-H A to Z of'Vome
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A TO Z OF
Ancient
Greek and Roman
Women
REVISED EDITION
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MARJORIE LICHTMAN AND
BENJAMIN LICHTMAN
A TO Z OF
Ancient Greek
and Roman
Women
Revised Edition
-H A to 2 of"Vomen ^-
A TO Z OF
Ancient Greek
and Roman
Women
Revised Edition
MARJORIE LIGHTMAN AND
BENJAMIN LIGHTMAN
EfFacts On File
An imprint of Infobase Publishing
A to Z of Ancient Greek and Roman Women, Revised Edition
Copyright © 2008, 2000 by Marjorie Lightman and Benjamin Lightman
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic
or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage or retrieval systems, without
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New York NY 10001
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Lightman, Marjorie.
A to Z of ancient Greek and Roman women / Marjorie Lightman and Benjamin Lightman. — Rev. ed.
p. cm. — (A to Z of women)
Rev. ed. of: Biographical dictionary of ancient Greek and Roman women. 2000.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN-13: 978-0-8160-6710-7
ISBN-10: 0-8160-6710-4
1. Women — Rome — Biography — Dictionaries. 2. Women — Greece — Biography — Dictionaries. 3. Women —
Biography — To 500 — Dictionaries. I. Lightman, Benjamin. II. Title.
HQ1136.L54 2007
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childr
CONTENTS
6N©
Preface xiii
Anastasia (2) 21
Arria Fadilla 40
Introduction xvii
Anastasia (3) 21
Arria the Elder 40
Ancharia 22
Arria the Younger 4 1
Entries:
Anteia 22
Arsinoe 42
Acte, Claudia 1
Antigone 22
Arsinoe I 43
Acutia 1
Antistia (1) 23
Arsinoe II Philadelphus 43
Ada 2
Antistia (2) 23
Arsinoe III Philopator 44
Aelia lunilla 2
Antistia Pollitta 23
Arsinoe Auletes 45
Aelia Paetina 2
Antonia (1) 24
Artacama 45
Aemilia (1) 3
Antonia (2) 24
Artemisia I 45
Aemilia (2) 3
Antonia (3) 24
Artemisia II 46
Aemilia Lepida (1)
4
Antonia (4) 25
Artonis 46
Aemilia Lepida (2)
4
Antonia the Elder 25
Artoria Flaccilla 46
Aemilia Lepida (3)
5
Antonia the Younger 26
Asella 47
Aemilia Lepida (4)
5
Antonia Tryphaena 28
Aspasia 48
Aemilia Tertia 6
Antonina 28
Atia(l) 48
Afriana (Carfania)
7
Antye 30
Atia (2) 49
Agariste (1) 7
Apama (1) 31
Atilia 49
Agariste (2) 7
Apama (2) 31
Attia Variola 49
Agariste (3) 8
Apega 32
Attica, Caecilia 50
Agathocleia 8
Apicata 32
Aurelia (1) 50
Agesistrata 8
Appuleia Varilla 33
Aurelia (2) 50
Agiatis 9
Apronia 33
Aurelia Orestilla 5 1
Aglaonice 9
Arcadia 33
Aurelia Severa 51
Agrippina the Elder
Vipsania 9
Archidamia 34
Axiothea(l) 51
Agrippina the Youn
jer, Julia 12
Archippe (1) 35
Axiothea(2) 51
Albina the Elder 14
Archippe (2) 35
Balbilla, Julia 53
Albina the Younger
15
Archo 36
Barsine (1) 53
Albucilla 17
Aretaphila 36
Barsine (2) 54
Ace 17
Arete (1) 36
Bastia 54
Alexandra 18
Arete (2) 37
Berenice (1) 55
Amalasuntha 18
Ariadne, Aelia 37
Berenice (2) 55
Amastris 20
Aristomache 39
Berenice I 56
Anastasia (1) 20
Arrecina Tertulla 40
Berenice II of Cyrene 56
VII
A to Z of Ancient Greek and Roman Women
Berenice III Cleopatra 58
Berenice IV Cleopatra 58
Berenice Syra 59
Bilistiche 59
Blaesilla 60
Boudicca 61
Busa 61
Caecilia 62
Caecilia Metella (1) 62
Caecilia Metella (2) 63
Caedicia 63
Caenis Antonia 63
Caesaria 64
Calpurnia (1) 64
Calpurnia (2) 64
Calpurnia (3) 64
Calpurnia Hispulla 65
Calvia Crispinilla 65
Calvina 65
Cannutia Crescentina 66
Cartimandua 66
Casta Caecilia 66
Castricia 67
Celerina, Pompeia 68
Chaerestrate 68
Chelidon 68
Chilonis (1) 69
Chilonis (2) 69
Chilonis (3) 69
Chiomara 69
Claudia (1) 70
Claudia (2) 70
Claudia (3) 71
Claudia (4) 71
Claudia (5) 72
Claudia (6) 72
Claudia Pulchra 72
Cleito 73
Cleoboule 73
Cleobuline 74
Cleodice 74
Cleopatra (1) 74
Cleopatra (2) 74
Cleopatra (3) 75
Cleopatra (4) 76
Cleopatra (5) 76
Cleopatra I (The Syrian) 77
Cleopatra II Philometor
Soteira 77
Cleopatra III 78
Cleopatra IV 80
Cleopatra V Selene 80
Cleopatra VI Tryphaena 8 1
Cleopatra VII 81
Cleopatra Selene 84
Cleopatra Thea 85
Cleopatra Tryphaena 87
Cleora 87
Clodia (1) 88
Clodia (2) 88
Clodia (3) 89
Clodia (4) 90
Clodia Laeta 90
Cloelia(l) 91
Cloelia(2) 91
Coesyra 91
Constantia 9 1
Constantia, Flavia Julia 92
Constantina 92
Corellia Hispulla 93
Corinna 93
Cornelia (1) 94
Cornelia (2) 94
Cornelia (3) 96
Cornelia (4) 96
Cornelia (5) 96
Cornelia (6) 97
Cornelia (7) 97
Cornelia (8) 97
Cornelia (9) 98
Cornelia (10) 98
Cornelia (11) 98
Cornelia (12) 99
Cornificia 99
Cratesicleia 99
Cratesipolis 100
Crispina 100
Crispina Bruttia 100
Cynane 101
Cynisca 101
Cytheris Volumnia 101
Danae 1 03
Deinomache 1 03
Demarete 1 04
Domitia 104
Domitia Lepida 1 04
Domitia Longina 105
Domitia Lucilla 106
Domitia Paulina (1) 106
Domitia Paulina (2) 107
Domitilla, Flavia (1) 107
Domitilla, Flavia (2) 107
Domnica 1 07
Doris 108
Drusilla (1) 108
Drusilla (2) 108
Drypetis 109
Duronia 109
Egeria 111
Egnatia Maximilla 112
Elpinice 112
Ennia Thrasylla 113
Epicharis 113
Erinna 114
Euboea 114
Eudocia 114
Eudocia, Aelia (Athenais) 115
Eudoxia, Aelia 120
Eudoxia, Licinia 124
Eugraphia 125
Euphemia (1) (Lupicina) 125
Euphemia (2) 126
Eurydice (1) 126
Eurydice (2) (Adea) 127
Eurydice (3) 128
Eurydice (4) 128
Euryleonis 129
Eusebia 129
Eustochium 129
Euthydice (Eurydice) 131
Eutropia, Galeria Valeria 1 32
Fabia 134
Fabiola 134
Fadia 135
Fannia (1) 136
Fannia (2) 136
Fausta 137
Fausta, Flavia Maxima 1 37
VII
Contents
Faustina, Aelia Flavia
Julia (5) 162
Livia Drusilla 188
Maxima 138
Julia (6) 162
Livia Ocellina 192
Faustina the Elder, Annia
Julia (7) 164
Livia Orestilla 192
Galeria 138
Julia (8) 165
Livilla, Livia Julia Claudia 1 92
Faustina the Younger, Annia
Julia Aquilia Severa 166
Lollia Paulina 194
Galeria 139
Julia Avita Mamaea 166
Lucilia 195
Flaccilla, Aelia Flavia 140
Julia Cornelia Paula 168
Lucilla, Annia Aurelia
Flora 141
Julia Domna 168
Galeria 195
Floronia 141
Julia Drusilla (1) 169
Lucretia 196
Fulvia (1) 141
Julia Drusilla (2) 170
Lysandra 1 96
Fulvia (2) 142
Julia Flavia 170
Macrina 198
Galeria Fundana 145
Julia Livilla 171
Macrina the Younger 198
Galla 146
Julia Maesa 171
Maecia Faustina 200
Gallitta 146
Juliana, Anicia 172
Maesia 201
Glaphyra(l) 147
Julia Phoebe 174
Magia 201
Glaphyra (2) 147
Julia Procilla 174
Mallonia 201
Glycera 147
Julia Soaemias Bassiana 174
Marcella 202
Gorgo 148
Junia (1) 175
Marcella the Elder, Claudia 204
Gratilla 148
Junia (2) 175
Marcella the Younger,
Gygaea 148
Junia (3) 176
Claudia 205
Hagesichora 150
Junia Calvina 176
Marcellina 205
Hedyto 150
Junia Claudilla 177
Marcia (1) 206
Hegesipyle 150
Junia Lepida 177
Marcia (2) 206
Helena 151
Junia Silana 177
Marcia (3) 207
Helena Flavia Julia (1) 151
Junia Tenia 178
Marcia (4) 208
Helena, Flavia Julia (2) 152
Junia Torquata 179
Marcia Furnilla 208
Helvia 153
Justina 179
Marciana, Ulpia 208
Herodias 153
Labda 181
Maria 209
Herpyllis 153
Laelia 181
Marina 210
Hipparchia 1 54
Lais 182
Marsa 211
Hipparete (1) 154
Lamia 1 82
Martina 211
Hipparete(2) 154
Lanassa 182
Matidia(l) 212
Hispala Faecenia 155
Laodice I 182
Matidia(2) 213
Hispulla 155
Laodicelll 183
Melania the Elder 213
Honoria, Justa Grata 1 56
Lastheneia 184
Melania the Younger 216
Horatia 1 57
Leaena 184
Melinno 220
Hortensia 157
Leontia 184
Melissa 220
Hydna 158
Leontion 185
Messallina, Valeria 221
Hypatia 158
Licinia(l) 185
Milonia Caesonia 224
Ilia 159
Licinia(2) 185
Minervina 225
Ismenodora 159
Licinia(3) 186
Minucia 225
Isodice 159
Licinia(4) 186
Monica 225
Julia (1) 160
Licinia(5) 187
Mucia 227
Julia (2) 160
Licinia(6) 187
Mucia Tertia 227
Julia (3) 161
Licinia(7) 187
Mummia Achaica 228
Julia (4) 161
Livia 188
Munatia Plancina 228
IX
A to Z of Ancient Greek and Roman Women
Musa, Thea Urania 229
Mutilia Prisca 230
Myrrhine 230
Myrtis 231
Myrto 231
Neaera 232
Nicaea (1) 233
Nicaea (2) 233
Nicopolis 234
Nossis 234
Numantina, Fabia 234
Occia 235
Octavia (1) 235
Octavia (2) 235
Octavia, Claudia 237
Oculata 238
Oenanthe 238
Olympias (1) 239
Olympias (2) 241
Olympias (3) 241
Opimia 244
Orbiana 244
Papiria 245
Paula the Elder 245
Paula the Younger 248
Paulina 249
Paxaea 250
Perictione 250
Perpetua, Vibia 250
Petronia 253
Phaenarete 253
Phila (1) 253
Phila (2) 254
Philesia 255
Philinna 255
Phryne 255
Phthia 256
Pilia 256
Pipa (Pipara) 257
Placidia 257
Placidia, Aelia Galla 258
Plangon 26 1
Plathane 262
Plautia Urgulanilla 262
Plautilla 263
Plotina, Pompeia 263
Pompeia (1) 264
Pompeia (2) 265
Pompeia Macrina 265
Pompeia Paulina 266
Pomponia (1) 266
Pomponia (2) 267
Pomponia Galla 267
Pomponia Graecina 267
Pomponia Rufina 268
Popilia 268
Poppaea Sabina (1) 268
Poppaea Sabina (2) 269
Porcia 271
Potone 272
Praecia 272
Praxilla 272
Prisca 273
Proba, Anicia Faltonia 273
Proba, Faltonia Betitia 275
Publilia (1) 275
Publilia (2) 276
Pudentilla, Aemilia 276
Pulcheria, Aelia 277
Pythias 282
Pythodoris 282
Pythonice 282
Quarta Hostilia 284
Rhea 285
Rhodopis 285
Roxane 285
Rubria 286
Sabina, Vibia 287
Salome 288
Salonina, Cornelia 288
Salvina (Silvina) 289
Sancia 290
Sappho 291
Sassia 291
Satria Galla 292
Scribonia 292
Sempronia (1) 294
Sempronia (2) 294
Serena 295
Servilia (1) 297
Servilia (2) 299
Servilia (3) 299
Servilia (4) 300
Sextia(l) 300
Sextia(2) 301
Sextilia 301
Silia 301
Sosia Gallia 302
Sosipatra 302
Statilia 302
Statilia Messallina 303
Stratonice (1) 303
Stratonice (2) 304
Stratonice (3) 304
Sulpicia (1) 305
Sulpicia (2) 305
Syncletica 306
Tanaquil 307
Telesilla 307
Terentia (1) 308
Terentia (2) 311
Tettia Etrusc 312
Teuta 313
Thais 313
Thebe 314
Themista 314
Theodora 314
Theodora, Flavia
Maximiana 319
Theoxena 320
Thermantia, Aemilia
Materna 320
Thessalonice 32 1
Timaea 32 1
Timandra 321
Timo 322
Timocleia 322
Triaria 322
Tullia (1) 323
Tullia (2) 323
Urgulania 326
Valeria (1) 327
Valeria (2) 327
Varronilla 328
Verania 328
Verginia (1) 329
Verginia (2) 329
Verina (Aelia) 330
Vespasia Polla 331
Contents
Vibidia 332
Victoria (Vitruvia) 332
Vipsania Agrippina 332
Vistilia 333
Vitia 333
Xanthippe 335
Zenobia, Septimia 336
Zenonis 337
nstry 339
Glossary 367
Bibliography 371
Index 381
XI
PREFACE
6N©
A to Z of Ancient Greek and Roman Women,
Revised Edition, was an unexpected intellec-
tual adventure. We have extended the time period
to include women of the later Roman Empire.
Like many others who have studied the Greco-
Roman world, we were less familiar with the fourth
through sixth centuries C.e. than with earlier
times, although the period had well-known names,
such as Theodora and Justinian, and well-docu-
mented achievements, such as the codification of
Roman statutory law. We were also reasonably well
acquainted with the development of Christianity
and its spread across the empire, accompanied by
doctrinal disputes, political manipulation, and the
flowering of early monasticism in the Egyptian
desert. Nonetheless, the period remained largely
peopled with a dizzying cast of rulers and usurpers,
frequently in alliances and misalliances generated
by the turmoil and change of repeated Germanic
invasions. All of these historical characters and
events, moreover, had for a backdrop the growing
desperation of the West, as wealth moved to the
East and the empire split into halves.
In some ways, researching the later period posed
the same challenges as researching women of the
Hellenistic era. As in the Hellenistic period, the
later Roman Empire was a period of politically
powerful women who lived complicated lives in
which historical fact sometimes far exceeded the
imagination of fiction. The two periods also shared
a sense of possibility, change, and instability. After
the death of Alexander the Great, Greek rulers
spread far and wide. The eastern Mediterranean
developed multiple centers of power, and, as in the
later Roman Empire, the hegemonic imperative
became more cultural than political. In the earlier
period, hegemony followed the spread of Greek
culture, which, in the later Roman Empire, was
supplanted by Christianity grafted on a pervasive
pagan Neoplatonism.
The periods also shared a major lack: Neither
had a contemporaneous narrator whose work
could shape an understanding of the era as com-
pelling as those by Thucydides and Tacitus or
as readable as Livy For both periods, we found
ourselves stitching together women's lives from
disparate, sometimes hostile, often little-known
sources. In the later Roman period, in contrast
with the earlier, the sources were more often than
not hagiographic. Buried in Christian pietistic
writings, however, were Greco-Roman women
whose lives had been shaped by the opportunities
and limitations of society. Like a puzzle whose
full picture only becomes visible when enough of
the pieces are already in place, we slowly discov-
ered the extraordinary political, social, economic,
and psychological roles these women played in the
development of Christianity and the evolution of
the Roman state. The Augustae of the later Roman
Empire were as numerous, devious, politically
astute, smart, and aggressive as their counterparts
of centuries ago, including the 1 5 women named
XII
A to Z of Ancient Greek and Roman Women
Cleopatra of Hellenistic Egypt. Like their more
ancient sisters, these late Roman women were also
interesting.
Educated, and with a degree of legal and psy-
chological independence probably not seen again
until the 19th century, they had benefited from
centuries of gradual emancipation. The transfor-
mation in the Greco-Roman world over the course
of centuries had been accompanied first by the
spread of Greek culture and later by Roman law.
From the early third century c.e. onward, Roman
citizenship was widespread. Also by the third cen-
tury, women's legal and economic independence
protected by Roman law were commonplace. One
of the unintended consequences resulting from the
spread of Christianity within the context of a soci-
ety organized under Roman law and custom was
the extraordinary women of the late empire.
It did not take us very long to settle into a
familiar working pattern and again to let ancient
women dominate our daily lives and our social
conversation. As with the writing of the first edi-
tion, it became a rule at dinner that neither of us
could discuss the women whose biographies we
were currently writing. Not only could we bore
everyone with the minutiae of the research, but we
often didn't agree. We had many provocative con-
versations that excluded everyone present except
the two of us. Some of the discussions became so
heated that one or another of us stormed out of the
room and finished dinner from leftovers.
Although our differences tended to disappear
as we actually put words to paper, the heated dis-
cussions reflected changes in scholarship, events in
the larger world, and, we hope, a maturing of our
own thinking. Scholarship about women and about
the late empire has taken giant steps since the first
edition. The contextualizing of women's lives to
augment scarce sources with circumstantial prob-
abilities has become a biographical genre. So, too,
has thinking about the interpretation of the sources
in light of contemporary times. Power, politics, reli-
gion, and gender have clothed the historical explo-
ration of Greco-Roman women with modern dress.
Fortunately, we found that our earlier decisions
about writing the women's biographies were still
valid. All the biographies begin with a heading that
provides the subject's name, birth and death dates
(or where that information is unknown, the cen-
tury in which she lived), and the place(s) in which
she lived. We have tried to begin each biography by
characterizing briefly what the subject did and, in
many cases, to imagine from her perspective the sit-
uation presented by the (invariably) male sources.
We have also augmented the general paucity of
information about a specific life with contextual
information. Sometimes we created a situational
biography that rests on probabilities, but without
exceeding the boundaries of the sources or the
interpretations offered by modern scholars.
Following each biography we have provided the
reader with the sources of our information, both
ancient and modern. The Mediterranean may have
been the mare nostrum for the centuries of Greco-
Roman life, but the boundaries of the city-states
and the Roman Empire underwent many changes.
This book includes maps to orient the reader and a
general bibliography to facilitate understanding of
the changing ancient world. There is also an index
of the women profiled. Since over the roughly
1,000 years covered by A to Z of Ancient Greek and
Roman Women, Revised Edition, half the population
was female, the more than 500 women included
can only be considered representative of the mil-
lions who have been left out. These are the women
for whom enough significant literary information
survives to suggest the course of their lives.
As with the first edition, this new and expanded
revision would have been impossible without help.
Everyone of our friends contributed. Frances Col-
lin, our literary agent, was responsible for our
working with Facts On File. William Zeisel, our
friend, colleague, and Marjories partner in the
consulting firm of QED Associates LLC, was at
our side throughout the process of research and
writing, and Ronald Cluett, a historian of the
later Roman Empire, was a loyal supporter, reader,
and commentator. We also wish to thank Elena
Stolyarik, Robert Hoge, and Rick Schonke at the
American Numismatic Society in New York City
for their help and patience in finding the coins
with images of the women included in this book.
XIV
Preface
In contrast with the first edition, when we did than functional support. They kept us focused on
most of our research at the Library of Congress the future generations of students who we hope
in Washington, D.C., this time we did a large will discover an interest in women of the Greco-
part of the research on the Web. We could not Roman world,
have worked as efficiently and comfortably with
the newly available electronic tools if our chil- — Marjorie Lightman and Benjamin Lightman
dren had not been readily available for consulta- Washington, D.C.
tion and advice. However, they provided more March 2007
xv
INTRODUCTION
6N©
Overview
When the first edition of this book was published
in 2000, it was notable for identifying women's
presence in every aspect of public life: not just a
few women, or even only elite women, but women
across the spectrum of ancient society from the
Hellenic period through the high Roman Empire.
The biographies confirmed, as scholars had often
noted, that the Greco-Roman world was indeed
gender segregated, but with women-only institu-
tions as well as institutions that excluded women.
Alongside the male-only Roman Senate were the
Vestal Virgins and the sorority of the Bona Dea.
Along with gender segregation, the biographies
also suggested that there was a gender balancing
in which formal and informal, public and private
spheres of segregated power worked in tandem to
assure the needs of the society. As circumstances
demanded, gender distinctions disappeared, and
women took their place in all of the society's essential
institutions. In the ancient city-state, with its finite
resources and population, everyone was important,
especially if the community supported an army of
men who went to war and did not contribute pro-
ductive labor, often during the critical growing sea-
son. Of necessity, in ancient life there was de facto a
wider diffusion of power that included women than
was incorporated into law or expressed in literature.
A to Z of Ancient Greek and Roman Women,
Revised Edition, includes the formidable pagan
and Christian women of the Roman Empire in
the fourth through sixth centuries c.e. It extends
through the reign of Theodora, who was the last
Augusta to hold sway over an empire that stretched
from Rome to Constantinople and Alexandria to
Carthage. The biographies in this revision inform,
enlarge, and, in some cases, alter the interpretation
of Greco-Roman women presented in the previ-
ous edition. The new biographies emphasize the
spaces between literature, law, custom, and the
circumstances, personalities, and experiences that
shaped the lives of individual women. They include
tumultuous periods of time when the gap between
socially affirmed expectations of women's behavior
and the lives many women lived appears quite wide
and biographies from other times when there is a
greater congruence.
Not surprisingly, war, natural disasters, political
instability, economic crisis, and the character of a
woman's father, son, or husband were instrumen-
tal in shaping the possibilities of a woman's life.
However, just as important was the dominating
power of the region. Hellenic, Hellenistic, Roman,
and Greco-Roman society offered women differ-
ent kinds of opportunities and placed them under
different limitations. Distinctive codes of law, a
wide variety of sacrosanct social traditions, and the
transformative religious experience of early Chris-
tianity continually reformulated the ways in which
women understood themselves, their responsibili-
ties, and their obligations over the course of the
millennium.
XVII
A to Z of Ancient Greek and Roman Women
The Roman Empire
Roman rule provided a political overlay that car-
ried with it a unifying patina of Greco-Roman
life, law, and culture. Greco-Roman culture, which
was a dynamic mix of Hellenistic traditions and
ideas with the institutions and statutory law of
the Latin-speaking Roman conquerors, governed
for six centuries — more than half the millennium
covered by this edition. Greek culture, however,
long preceded Roman rule, as the biographies of
women from the coast of Asia Minor, the Aegean
Islands, and mainland Greece amply demonstrate.
Greek culture followed Alexander the Great, his
generals, and the extraordinary women around
them throughout the eastern half of the Mediterra-
nean in the fourth century b.c.e. After Alexanders
death, Egypt fell to Greek domination. The Greek
women who ruled and coruled through the Helle-
nistic period made Egypt a competing power with
Rome for control of the Mediterranean until the
end of the last century b.c.e.
By the second century b.c.e., Rome controlled
the western Mediterranean and, at the end of the
first century b.c.e., after civil wars and a final con-
frontation with Cleopatra VII in Egypt, the entire
region. The Roman civil wars opened opportunities
for women, and the first two centuries of the empire
were a "golden age" for Greco-Roman women, espe-
cially those from the propertied classes, who attained
a heretofore unknown degree of personal autonomy.
Women's increased personal autonomy and eco-
nomic presence continued to expand, even during
the economic chaos that followed and despite the
repeated efforts of imperial reform. As imperial rule
changed into autocratic power, women began to
assume the trappings of imperial authority.
The new biographies focus on the transforma-
tive centuries in which the empire was beset with
Germanic invasions and declining productivity and
population, especially in the West and North Africa.
The biographies reveal the degree to which scarcity
dominated ancient life. Neither food, labor, or any
other necessary goods of consumption had a large
enough surplus for society to ever rest secure about
its basic needs. The inefficiencies of production
and distribution, especially in agriculture, left the
cities, even at the height of imperial Rome, always
vulnerable to shortages. The dependence on slave
labor, moreover, further increased the inefficiency
in production. Not only was slave labor expensive
to maintain, but the threat of uprisings among
the enslaved further diverted limited resources.
The combination of economic inefficiencies and a
slave culture touched relationships from marriage
to inheritance and influenced women's economic
independence and political aspirations.
Scarcity also afflicted the invading German
tribes, who sometimes needed grain more than
gold. No amount of foraging could sufficiently feed
the traveling populations and cities could often buy
off the threat of siege with food. However, nei-
ther Italy nor Greece produced a regular surplus
of food. Italy was not fully self-sufficient in grain
after the second century b.c.e. The breadbaskets
of the ancient world were North Africa and Egypt,
which, after having centuries of absentee landlords,
rapacious administrators, and natural disasters, were
also no longer able to feed the empire by the fifth
century c.e. Augustine, who was bishop of Hippo,
near Carthage, lamented the dimension and con-
sequence of change in North African agriculture.
Where once there had been abundance there was
only subsistence farming, and the mighty monu-
ments of Roman urban life, the baths, the roads, the
libraries, and the temples, were falling into decay.
Even books were no longer easily accessible.
The disruptive presence of large numbers of poor
people became a new reality of city life as land col-
lected in the hands of the elite. The ideal of the
independent citizen farmer became an increasingly
distant mirage, while the urban poor multiplied and
landed estates grew larger, embracing whole villages
of free, freed, and enslaved workers. By the fifth and
sixth centuries, chronic depopulation compounded
by repeated invasions resulted in the forced bonding
of laborers to the land. Augustine's correspondence
with the younger Melania and her mother, Albina,
as well as the wealthy poet, Proba, illustrates the
vast gulf between rich and poor, especially in the
countryside. It also documents the existence of large
numbers of women landholders, who were among
the wealthiest Romans of the time.
XVII
Introduction
Christianity
Christianity was for women, perhaps far more
than for men, a religion accompanied by social
revolution. In A to Z of Ancient Greek and Roman
Women, Revised Edition, the biographies of women
who were early converts to Christianity suggest the
trajectory of their spiritual journeys, their role in
Christianizing the senatorial classes and in provid-
ing a financial base for the emerging episcopate.
Above all, however, the new biographies detail
the relationship between being Greco-Roman
and becoming Christian. The choices women
made rested on the gender expectations of the
Greco-Roman society that nurtured them and the
increasing autonomy allowed them. The Chris-
tian religious transformation they experienced led
to a new kind of individual and personal quest
that often proved to be incompatible with the
historical, gendered, and corporate culture of the
pagan world. Some of the biographies describe
women's close relationships with eminent men
of the church. Bishops, priests, and monks, who
were often financially dependent on the largesse
of the wealthy, found their most likely benefactors
and friends among celibate and ascetically inclined
women. Together, they shared a spiritual and intel-
lectual search for salvation. Many wound up living
side-by-side in communal houses and monasteries,
which the women often had built and endowed.
At the opening of the third century, the Chris-
tian woman Perpetua was martyred in Carthage.
Her prison journal is among the earliest and most
extensive writing extant by a Christian or pagan
woman. In her ecstatic and personal passion she
had visions and spoke in tongues. She personified
the quest of individual women who, during the
subsequent centuries, were attracted to celibacy
and an ascetic lifestyle. The pleas of her father and
love for her nursing child could not deter her from
a willing death. She had turned from her fam-
ily defined by blood to her new family of fellow
Christians joined in their search for a Christian
salvation.
The individuality of the Christian pursuit of
grace affected the family, which, along with land,
were the twin pillars of ancient stability. Pagan
Greco-Roman society construed the responsibili-
ties and obligations of the landed family to extend
beyond the nuclear core to include a host of depen-
dents, from poorer relatives to slaves, freed slaves,
and their respective kin across the generations.
Insofar as wealth carried inherited obligations and
responsibilities for the larger group, family wealth
had a corporate character.
Marriage in propertied families was a functional
arrangement intended to produce a new generation
and bring in new wealth. Elite marriage was monog-
amous and divorce was possible. By definition, mar-
riage was a contract that defined property rights and
their intergenerational transfer; companionship,
caring, and passion were not part of the contract or
even necessary conditions for a successful marriage.
There was no social role for a never-married woman
of a landed family, and at all times and in all places
women from propertied families not only married
but were expected to bear children, except for the
rare woman who became a full-time priestess or
spent 30 years as a Vestal Virgin.
Women, however, were not necessarily power-
less pawns in the marriage market. Depending on
their age, their wealth, and their political posi-
tion, they could and did bargain on their own
behalf. While marital negotiations would seem a
familiar part of history among the imperial family
or the very rich, less familiar is the routine pres-
ence of complicated betrothal agreements among
the less powerful or wealthy. Cicero's letters to
Atticus, who was a friend and facilitator dur-
ing Cicero's divorce from his wife, Terentia, pro-
vided an unusually intimate glimpse of divorce
in accord with the conditions of a betrothal con-
tract agreed upon more than 20 years earlier. The
letters offer further insight into the contractual
discussions for Cicero's second marriage, to a far
younger woman whose dowry he sorely needed.
No less interesting are the letters that delineated
the limits of his authority over his daughter Tul-
lia and her choice of partners, or the conditions
of the betrothal, especially when he, like many
Greco-Roman men, was in a distant place of the
empire while his wife and agent attended family
affairs at home.
XIX
A to Z of Ancient Greek and Roman Women
The innumerable papyri fragments of marriage
contracts affirm the hard negotiations that charac-
terized what each partner contributed to the mar-
riage and expected to take back in case of divorce.
By and large, however, under Greek as well as
Roman law, noncitizens and the poor had either
no right, or only a limited right, for a contractual
marital relationship. Nor was a contract necessary.
Epitaphs across the Mediterranean provide exten-
sive evidence of long and loving noncontractual
marriages. These relationships also evidence pride
in women's virtues no different from those cel-
ebrated among the elite. Marital relationships that
lasted unto death were lauded, and poor as well as
rich women were everywhere praised for modesty,
fidelity, silence, and fecundity.
However democratic and widespread the virtues
of womanhood, it was always better to be a rich
woman than a poor man and, better still, a very
rich woman. Simply said, for the ancients wealth
was evidence of goodness. It isn't that the ancient
world was the epitome of market capitalism; rather
wealth was evidence of good standing with the
gods, whose favor everyone sought. Until the rise
of Christianity, preordained fate governed life, and
there was neither escape nor forgiveness. The gods
were not omniscient beings endowed with mercy
of the Judeo-Christian tradition, but rather the
uncaring elemental powers of nature — the earth,
water, sky, and air. Put another way, the gods did
not exercise control over the forces of nature; they
were the forces of nature. When the poets spoke of
Mars in the arms of Venus they were not speaking
metaphorically about love taming war but quite lit-
erally about Mars, the god of war who was war, and
Venus, both love and the goddess of love.
For the most part, the rich and the poor, those
with a marriage contract and those who simply
lived together as husband and wife, all regarded
children as a gift of the gods. Without a clear
vision of an afterlife, the security of the living was
best assured by caring for ancestors. Children were
their parents' assurance of proper rites for the dead.
They could make the dead rest in peace and sustain
the honor of the family in life. Children were a
woman's crowning glory, and for a woman who
was not an ascetically inclined Christian, fertility
always was the central mystery of ancient life.
Women's ability to bear children, however, was
an uncertain gift of the gods and a mixed blessing.
The reality of medicine and medical knowledge left
pregnancy, childbirth, and its aftermath fraught
with danger. In the early empire, the state's efforts
to encourage families recognized women who bore
three children with full and independent control
over their property. It was a powerful prod that
over time became a status obtainable by purchase.
In the centuries of peaceful empire, the death rate
for women in childbirth was possibly higher than
that of soldiers in battle, and the purchase of inde-
pendent control over property a safer road to a
preeminent symbol of status.
Christianity changed the world for women.
Asceticism and monasticism held a particular
appeal. Women's engagement with the individual,
ecstatic, and spiritual side of Christianity made
them among the first adopters of the new asceti-
cism that began to sweep the Christian world in
the fourth century. From Syncletica in Egypt to
Macrina in Asia Minor, women sought to free
themselves from the burdens of secular life in
pursuit of a union with God. They founded com-
munal houses for women who never married and
for widows who refused to remarry, used their
wealth to establish the beginnings of Christian
public charitable services, and developed friend-
ships with each other and with male clerics that
would have been unlikely in the differently sexual-
ized pagan world.
Christianity offered women their first opportu-
nity to live socially sanctioned lives outside Greco-
Roman gendered roles. For poor women, celibacy
offered a freedom from sexual abuse that was as
common on the streets as water from the fountains
of Rome, and for the slave woman, the dream of a
better life after death. It also posed a revolutionary
threat to the elite. The chronic underpopulation
for which women were blamed and imperial policy
vainly sought to reverse was heightened by the
emergence of an ascetic, celibate lifestyle. Women
celibates not only countered imperial efforts to
increase families, but also roiled secular politics,
xx
Introduction
divided families, and engaged women in the public
life of the empire as never before.
Pagans viewed Christian women who chose celi-
bacy and either gave away their wealth or used it to
enhance the church as willfully squandering precious
corporate assets that rightfully belonged to the fam-
ily. Well into the fifth and sixth centuries, mixed
families of Christians and pagans were still not
unusual. Conflicts within the family over a woman's
use of personal wealth are a recurring motif in the
biographies of ascetic women who corresponded
with Jerome, the noted churchman. The biographies
of women like the elder Melania reveal the kind of
lengthy negotiations and arrangements within prop-
ertied families that accompanied a woman's decision
to pursue an ascetic lifestyle.
Women made different decisions about the
style of their asceticism. Some women, like Syn-
cletica, simply gave away their wealth and lived as a
recluse in the Egyptian desert; others, like Melania,
Paula, the Augusta Eudoxia, Olympias, and Egeria,
followed a different path. They settled a portion
of their wealth on relatives who disagreed with
their calling. This was especially evident among
the women in Rome, who also sought to avoid
court-mandated settlements or the appointment of
trustees. In further contrast with Syncletica, these
women actively engaged in international debates
about the nature of Christ and the position of Mary.
Most important, however, they kept under their
control a sufficient portion of their wealth to found
monasteries and travel widely and often, including
trips to Palestine. With surprising frequency, they
also supported male religious colleagues whose let-
ters have survived to tell us about them.
The wealthy women who became active Chris-
tians before the Council of Chalcedon in 45 1 c.e.
joined a heterodox church in which doctrinal con-
troversy was ongoing. With the Chalcedon compro-
mise, orthodoxy was defined, but not everywhere
accepted. The Eastern part of the empire, in particu-
lar, remained heavily Monophysite and supported
the single and divine nature of Christ. Imperial
women were active supporters of the debates over
the nature of Christ, and Theodora was in large part
responsible for the establishment of a Monophysite
episcopate that led to the final schism with the
West. No less controversial was the role of Mary.
Her identity as the Mother of God, in contrast to
mother of the human Christ child, opened the way
for women to claim their place in the church. It
erased the "sin" of Eve and was a political position
jealously guarded by the imperial women, especially
Pulcheria, who rested her imperial authority on her
celibacy and devotion to Mary.
Ancient Sources
In A to Z of Ancient Greek and Roman Women,
Revised Edition, unlike a monograph about a single
woman or a group portrait of women during a par-
ticular period and place, the entries range across
the sweep of Greek and Roman history. This inclu-
siveness of time and space emphasizes the unend-
ing cycles of war, the repeated political uprisings,
the democracy of natural disaster, as well as the rel-
atively short intervals of peace and prosperity. The
more than 500 biographies of women included
in this book also reveal that networks among elite
women and between women and men wove a
web of relationships through society's public and
private affairs. The biographies make clear that
affairs of state moved in lockstep with the affairs of
the family and religion and together they shaped a
social order that was hierarchical in status, wealth,
and power, but also gender inclusive.
This edition follows the first edition and draws
on information about women from the extant
Greek and Latin literature. Some of the ancient
authors are more familiar to modern readers than
others: the histories of Herodotus; the letters,
speeches, and essays of Cicero; the multivolume
history of Rome by Livy; the sophisticated com-
mentary of Tacitus; the multitudinous works of
Plutarch; and the letters of the younger Pliny.
Less-familiar works include the histories written by
Polyibus, Sallust, and Dio Cassius, and the women
described by Athenaeus or the Greco-Roman
women included by Josephus in his history of the
Jews. This expanded edition also includes church
historians like Eusebius, some of the work by Ter-
tullian, Sozomen, Ambrose, and the ecclesiastical
history of Socrates. Also included is information
XXI
A to Z of Ancient Greek and Roman Women
from Gregory of Nyssa, who wrote about his sis-
ter Macrina, and the churchmen who maintained
extensive correspondences with women, such as
John Chryostom with Olympias, Augustine with
a number of women, and, above all, Jerome who
maintained decades-long correspondences with
women in the West and East.
About some centuries and many places we have
no literary information. What we have, however,
reinforces the sense of a shared body of stories
and historical references to places, events, customs,
and people that formed a continuous tradition
over a very long period of time. Ancient authors,
some of whom wrote hundreds of years after the
events they narrated, tantalize the modern reader
with allusions that assume familiarity with people
and events, especially women to whom they may
briefly refer. The inference that a woman may have
been well known to her contemporaries and far
less incidental to the narrated events than would
appear highlights both the frustration of limited
information and the danger of unexamined mod-
ern assumptions and easy generalizations.
The entries in the expanded edition include rich
women, poor women, and those in between. Some
were illiterate and many were well educated. Some
traveled; others never left home. Some were slaves.
Others owned slaves, male and female. Everyone
faced the immediacy of death from violence, acci-
dent, or infection. The classes of society that experi-
enced the greatest insecurities of life in the ancient
world, however, are also those who have left the
least-informative written records. In the literature,
even in the best-informed periods, women from
nonelite backgrounds appear most often when they
amassed wealth and influenced men and events.
The information about these women rarely includes
the identity of their blood kin, although they may
claim an elite non-Greco-Roman parentage. On
occasion there may be mention of a mother's name
or a city of origin, but the woman is far more likely
to be described by her physical charms and her rela-
tionships with important men.
In contrast with the literary sources, thousands
of epitaphs and donations to temples and other
religious sites document the names of slaves and
freedmen and women. They can also be identified
in business contracts and court cases, as well as in
fragments of personal correspondence that have
been found among the papyri, remains from the
ancient garbage heaps in the sands of Egypt. This
book, however, uses only literary sources since with
rare exception the inscriptions are fragmentary and
lack the coherence of the traditional literature.
The surviving literature not only reflects the
viewpoint of men, and elite men at that, but also
of the victor in the rise and fall of ancient city-
states and empires. Homer, whose works were
the literary fountainhead of the Greeks, wrote the
story of the Greek victory over Troy. Virgil, writing
in the first century c.e. under Augustus, provided
a Latin extension of the Trojan warriors to account
for the glory of imperial Rome. Livy's history of
Rome, only parts of which survive, was a celebra-
tion of Augustus's new empire. The gloss of the
victor becomes even more evident with the advent
of Christian histories. The church history of Euse-
bius, the letters of Jerome, the writings of Gregory
of Nyssa, John Chrysostom, and Augustine were
Christocentric at a time when Neoplatonism still
dominated Greco-Roman culture.
The surviving literature has been estimated as
about one-tenth of the literature that was generally
available in the fourth through sixth centuries. In
addition to literature, only a fraction of the records
from the state bureaucracy, ranging from tax receipts
to correspondence, such as the letters between the
younger Pliny and the emperor Trajan, still exist.
Also lost has been much of the record-keeping from
a millennium of trans-Mediterranean business that
involved corporate entities as well as individual mer-
chants. Fortunately, the garbage heaps of Egypt have
provided contracts for marriages and wills from at
least one place in the empire.
Despite ample evidence in the surviving lit-
erature written by men that elite women were as
likely to be as literate as men, especially from the
Hellenistic period onward, with the exception of
some poetry by Sappho and a young Latin poet
Sulpicia, no pagan literature written by women
has survived. In the early Christian literature, the
Passion of Perpetua written at the opening of the
XXII
Introduction
third century C.E., the sayings of Syncletica, and
the poetry by the Augusta Eudocia and Proba in
the fifth century c.e. make an only slightly less
scanty collection. More available are letters written
to women by men which reference the women's
part of the correspondence. In the pre-Chris-
tian literature of the first century b.c.e., Cicero
had a voluminous correspondence that included
women. Among Christians, Jerome, Chrysostom,
Augustine, Gregory of Nyssa, and numerous men
who were bishops of Rome, Antioch, Alexandria,
Constantinople, Tyre, and Carthage had similarly
lengthy correspondences with Christian women.
The ancient world's diverse literature was more
readily available than one would expect. In every
city or ancient town there were places where the
illiterate could find writers for their personal and
business needs. There were also scriptoria, often
in the household of wealthy people with literary
pretensions, in which the business of publishing
was carried out with copyists preparing books for
distribution and sale. The buying and selling of
literary papyrus rolls was widespread. Augustine
lamented the decline in his regular supply of new
"books" from Rome as the Germanic invasions
increasingly strangled business in the early fifth
century. The great library in Alexandria, which
prided itself on acquiring a copy of every new
book published, had 800,000 papyrus rolls in its
collection before it burned in the sixth century c.e.
Seven libraries dotted the city of Rome, which was
a tribute to its literate population and leadership
of the empire. Ancient public and private libraries
collected poetry, plays, history, philosophy, letters,
journals, travels, medicine, mathematics, astrology,
and astronomy. Over the centuries, however, wars,
natural disasters, and outbreaks of religious fanati-
cism destroyed them. The monumental arches that
mark the entrance to the ancient libraries of Per-
gamum and Ephesus, near the coast of modern
Turkey, suggest the richness of a lost literature.
Since the publication of the first edition of this
book, a new poem by Sappho has been uncovered,
and while it provides no startling information, it
adds to the body of literature by pagan women.
More may appear in the future, especially women's
correspondence. It is the absence of women's pri-
vate correspondence that perhaps most hinders
writing the biographies of women. The letters that
John Chrysostom, the exiled bishop of Constanti-
nople, wrote Olympias after she had left her life in
the capital to wander in Asia Minor beg for the let-
ters she wrote him. How can we definitively know
whether or not Macrina was the intellectual muse
her brother, Gregory of Nyssa, claimed, if we have
none of her letters to him?
This new edition includes more than 500
women. While this is not all the women, or even
most of the women we know about from the
Greco-Roman world, it is most of the women
who appear in literature and about whom we have
something meaningful to say. Evenly distributed
over time, 500 women would be about 40 women
per century. Few would argue the foolhardiness of
a general discussion of Western women in the 19th
or 20th centuries on the basis of 40 per century.
As it happens, ancient sources about women are
not equally distributed across time or geography.
Information about women tends to cluster. Taci-
tus, for example, focused on the Julio-Claudian
women in the first century c.e. This period was
also the high point of Latin poetry, in which Ovid
addressed women and love and Horace satirized
the life of the upper classes. The historians Sueton-
ius and Livy contribute further information about
this period. Similarly, women in the late republic
and the civil war years were a part of Cicero's volu-
minous correspondence, the subjects of the first
generation of Latin love poets like Catullus, and
were also reported on by Livy and Suetonius.
Modern Scholarship
The challenge to modern scholarship has been not
only to understand the lives of ancient women
through the lens of our own times, but also to
understand the ancients within their times. Since
the late 18th and early 19th centuries, when mod-
ern scholarship about antiquity began, the task has
been complicated by the gendered character of our
own society, on one hand, and the ancients' efforts
to extract moral instruction from history, on the
other hand. In consequence, nuanced discussions
XXII
A to Z of Ancient Greek and Roman Women
about gender, especially about women, have rarely
appeared. More often the modern discussion of
ancient works has been about what women ought
to be and do and how they have conformed to
or deviated from prescribed behavior. Until quite
recently, even the discussion of prescribed behavior
has been rather two-dimensional. Until the last
decades, a sense that flesh-and-blood women, who
lived through often-difficult times and made pain-
ful decisions, were a major part of antiquity has
remained largely absent from the scholarship. The
general lack of examination of women has been
attributed to an absence of information. Ancient
history has always suffered from insufficient or
incomplete information. In the case of women,
the very real lacunae have been accepted as reason
enough to largely ignore them. As the discipline of
women's history has matured, however, the focus
on women has suggested new approaches to the
traditional literature and new insights.
Intergenerational time lines that move families
from father to son, for example, ignore the impor-
tance of alliances between mothers and daughters,
both of whom could be married women bearing
children at the same time. The mother and grown
daughter alliance, which was possibly ancient
women's most powerful emotional and frequent
political bond, linked families and the next genera-
tion of children. Cross-generational alliances could
include sisters, cousins, and extended kin to fur-
ther confuse neat male-based generational descent.
Moreover, through death and divorce, women and
men often married more than once. Women, how-
ever, tended to marry men closer to their own
age as they grew older, gaining independence over
wealth and bargaining power within their marriage
even as their multiple marriages also added other
complications to male-centered generational lines.
Previously neglected literature that was consid-
ered less interesting, less reliable, and less impor-
tant by earlier generations has proved to include
useful references to lives women led. Scholars
have begun to look more closely at the purpose-
ful portrayal of women in the moral instruction
through historical example that characterized the
works of Greco-Roman historians and led to their
often two-dimensional female portraits. They have
begun the exploration of powerful female cliques
bound into networks of relationships affirmed by
kinship, friendship, religious beliefs, and politi-
cal goals. Often multigenerational and sometimes
in opposing political camps, the cliques could be
deadly enemies of one another, no less violent than
the men around them, and often using the men
around them as public ciphers for political power.
In the Hellenistic and imperial periods, the group-
ings of women who surrounded the various claim-
ants to the throne vied for power and wealth that
could award them control over a weak emperor or
landed estates so large as to equal a semiautono-
mous satrapy.
Scholars have also begun to reexamine ancient
speeches to juries, whose intent to defame and
persuade sometimes only confirmed contemporary
prejudice. There are also polemical tracts written
and circulated for political ends. These include cel-
ebrations of patronage as well as vitriolic attacks,
both of which suggest that the worthiness of
women subjects had some relationship with their
power. Finally, the early Christian theologians had
a number of women friends. The relationships
between these men and women, which possibly
would have been less likely among pagans, speak
to the change of values for women introduced with
Christianity and also for women's use of the new
opportunities.
An important aspect of modern scholarship has
been to develop authoritative texts and to assess the
relative authenticity of information from ancient
written sources. Not all ancient authors have been
accorded equal status. The scholarship has distin-
guished between what amounts to ancient his-
torical gossip, repeated by ancient authors often
hundreds of years after the event, from reliable
observation and commentary. At the extremes, few
would confuse Thucydides' work about the war
between Athens and Sparta with Procopius's vit-
riolic attack on the Augusta Theodora. At least
in part, however, praise of Thucydides has rested
on his subject matter. He, and his most highly
regarded fellow ancient commentators, addressed
the triad of public honor, wealth, and position that
XXIV
Introduction
formed the playing field of ancient elite male life.
The focus on men, on war, and on politics also
framed a vision of ancient life that most comfort-
ably agreed with the European imagination of ear-
lier centuries about what was important to know
about the Greeks and Romans.
In no small part, the ancient men and values
lauded affirmed the political and gender divisions
of European society during the centuries when
modern scholarship came into being and elevated
the study of Greece and Rome to define the mod-
ern, educated man. However familiar the ancient
male values appeared to Europeans, it was none-
theless a narrow vision that equated history with
the political evolution of the senate, the assembly,
and the Areopagus, or in modern terms, Congress
and Parliament, and also elevated great men to
the status of historical inevitability. Well into the
1960s, scholarship posed little challenge to the
ancients' statements, particularly about women.
It accepted unexamined the ancient assessment
of women as the less important background of
a warrior culture. Praise of virtuous women was
reiterated and women's immorality and decadence
accepted as a causative factor for the failure of
public institutions and the breakdown of the fam-
ily. Impossibly virtuous, and equally impossibly
infamous, ancient women continued to dot the
scholarly literature and to affirm male virtue or act
as the harbingers of dire events to come.
The 21st century, however, is in some ways
more like the ancient world than were the late
18th through 19th centuries when modern Greco-
Roman scholarship began to assume its privileged
position among the educated. It is also critically
different. As in the ancient world, we have come
to accept a broad sexual palette that includes serial
marriage, live-in and live-out relationships of all
kinds, and many variations of short-term liaisons. A
quick glance at any current magazine demonstrates
that in the 21st century a woman can be accepted
in the "best" society unashamedly unmarried, preg-
nant, and with a string of lovers to her credit. So,
too, the ancients had a broad sexual palette.
In the West, this broad sexual palette is situated
within a nation's civil code of law. In the third
century c.e., the emperor Caracalla declared that,
with minor exceptions, all people living under
Roman rule were Roman citizens. For the first
time in history, there was a uniform civil code in
which the same family and personal law defined
women's status across the Mediterranean. Between
the third and sixth centuries, the statutory law
was expanded, modified, and reinterpreted. The
emperor Justinian ordered a review and synthesis
of the subsequent centuries of conflicting edicts,
laws, and decisions. Theodora played a part in the
elimination of cross-class prohibitions on contrac-
tual marriage, made prostitution illegal in Con-
stantinople, and limited the rights of slave-owners
and employers to force women to perform in the
theater. The sixth-century compilation affirmed
that marriage was a monogamous and consensual
contract, albeit a special contract. As with every
contract it incorporated the conditions of its own
dissolution, not unlike contemporary prenuptial
agreements. Marriage without a formal contract
was considered equally binding under the law
and socially acceptable. In a manner reminiscent
of present-day circumstances, people who lived
together and presented themselves as a couple were
regarded as such, with all the complicated claims
on joint property if they separated.
The Greco-Roman world, like the contempo-
rary one, may have had both a multiplicity of
legitimate sexual relationships and, after the third
century, a uniform code of civil law that gov-
erned marriage. In the ancient world, however,
class always trumped law. The ancients categorized
women by birth, wealth, and family affiliation. At
all times and in all places, Greco-Roman society
was a slave culture and the sexual behavior of slaves
belonged to property law. Women slaves could
be used by their owners or by anyone who had
the owner's permission, for any sexual purpose.
Sex with a slave woman had no legal or moral
consequences for the man, providing it was in
accord with property law. Children born to slave
women increased the numbers of slaves a man
owned and enhanced his capital worth. Poor free
or freedwomen, on the other hand, probably lived
with the perpetual threat of sexual violence, since
XXV
A to Z of Ancient Greek and Roman Women
men often failed to distinguish the exact status of a
woman especially when in search of sex. Without
wealth or a man to protect them, they may have
well suffered more than slaves.
Except when historians like Livy sought to make
a moral point of civic virtue and used the behavior
of a slave or freedwoman as the object of their
case, it was elite women who have appeared in this
male-dominated history. It was with elite women
that men generally conspired in the endless cycles
of political intrigue that engaged every generation.
When, however, men were charged with treason,
their elite women coconspirators were more often
than not charged with the sexual crime of adultery.
For the ancients, there appears an equation between
an elite woman's sexual behavior and treason to
the state. Women's adultery was neither a property
violation as with slaves, nor a violation of personal
male honor. Adultery among elite married women
was a dangerous public act that challenged power
and threatened the stability of the state.
Conclusion
Perspective is possibly the foremost issue in shaping
ancient biographical information about a woman
into a narrative that speaks to modern audiences.
Perspective faces the challenge of information from
ancient sources that were overwhelmingly male
and for whom the questions of the contemporary
world were unknown. In A to Z of Ancient Greek
and Roman Women, Revised Edition, an effort has
been made to view events, people, and circum-
stances from the perspective of the woman who is
the subject of the biography. In a situation where
a group of women have participated in the same
historical events, each biography attempts to shift
into the unique perspective of the woman subject.
The effort to speak through the eyes of the
woman subject about events in her life from frag-
mentary sources and at a moment in time she could
not have imagined asks the reader to turn an under-
standing of the past almost on its head. The biog-
raphies start with the woman in the story and not
with the men around her. The biographies describe
what she did and seek to portray the reasonableness
of her behavior within the circumstances.
The entries pay less attention to either the vit-
riolic attacks for licentious behavior or praise for
passive virtues. Instead, the focus is on what a
woman did, who she was, and what were the con-
sequences of her actions. These questions open the
way to understanding the choices she faced and
the limitations she suffered. When situated within
the broadest possible historical context, the entries
invite readers to contemplate the variety and qual-
ity of ancient women's lives.
At least as difficult to communicate as per-
spective are the pervasive and powerful assump-
tions about a world foreign to the modern mind.
Ancient women were no more or less rational than
their contemporary sisters. However, the physi-
cal, social, economic, and political environment
of the ancient world rested on ideas about life and
death, the gods, politics, geography, power, and
relationships among men and between men and
women that bear little similarity with our own.
The Hellenistic women rulers, the politically ambi-
tious women of Rome, the imperial women who
ruled in the names of their sons, and the women
who chose to become ascetics were responding
to circumstances and conditions that, even if we
have the best available information, would still be
strange to contemporary sensibilities.
In many biographies, there also is a very imme-
diate sense of the fragility of life and the perva-
sive underpopulation that characterized even the
wealthiest periods in the ancient world. Women's
lives were dominated by this fragility. Women
watched children die seemingly almost as fre-
quently as they experienced their births. Nonethe-
less, women guarded the city walls when the men
went to fight. Women organized households on
estates in the countryside, which were the center
of production for goods and services all though the
millennium, and in the cities, Roman matronae
proudly assumed responsibility for the multigen-
erational households that incorporated living and
working, poor and rich, free and slave.
In an effort to communicate more clearly, the
language used in this book to describe women's
status, relationships, and honors may differ slightly
from older translations of ancient authors and
XXVI
Introduction
familiar modern historians. The entries refer to a
woman as a "ruler" or "woman ruler" or "coruler"
rather than queen which carries historical meanings
not necessarily a part of the ancient world. In addi-
tion, titles such as Augusta are untranslated because
they have no exact modern equivalent and are clear
through context. Such relationships as husband,
companion, lover, partner, ally, friend, and consort
describe specific and unique kinds of relationships.
Epithets, such as businesswoman, financial man-
ager, and political actor are the modern terms for
activities in which some women engaged.
From the perspective of many women in this
book, the public sphere shrinks and the family
and religion expand. In religion and in the oikos or
domus, women were present and powerful. Over
the millennium, the household changed, from the
relatively small landholdings of ancient Greece to
the imperial household of Constantinople, but its
centrality in ancient life remained constant. The
changes in the household reflected transformations
in the larger society; they also reflected the shifting
power and authority of women.
Unlike the households of modern times, the
ancient household was not a part of the private
sphere. It was a public space for ancient life as
important as the forum. The transmutation of the
public ancient household into the private modern
home has moved out of the historical eye ancient
women's pivotal control over food, healthcare,
the bearing and rearing of children, the choosing
and arranging for marital partners, clothing, clan
finances, and assignment of labor. Along the his-
torical way, women's responsibility for these vital
functions became the curiosity of female fertility
rites and women became secluded from the public
urban fray.
The biographies of the first and the revised edi-
tion suggest that the survival, let alone the success,
of ancient society involved a far broader definition
of power, authority, and gender than has been
traditionally acknowledged by ancient authors or
modern scholars. The focus of the extant ancient
authors has left us more a gendered history of
men through the development of important male-
dominated public institutions and military power
than an exploration of ancient society. Early mod-
ern scholarship borrowed from the ancients to
implicitly and explicitly explore the singular issue
of modernism, which was the emergence of the
secular state within a gendered European culture.
The attraction to a history of civil institutions and
warrior values, however, has clouded the primacy
of religion and the corporate household. It isn't
that modern scholarship has failed to explore the
family and religion, but rather that until quite
recently politics and military might have retained
their power over the scholarly imagination as the
most important aspects of society, placing women
in a secondary position, at best.
In these more than 500 biographical entries,
no person escaped their fate, and women never
escaped their gender. Nor was the past like the
present, only in another time. It was radically dif-
ferent, even when it appeared most similar. While
the triumphal marches of the military through
the city of Rome were a demonstration of power
and newly captured wealth, it was the women left
behind who secured the city, not only the safety
of its walls, but the social order that supported
military prowess. For the ancients, women were
essential for economic and social survival. Start-
ing from the perspective of a woman, the gods,
the state, and the family lived and died together,
whether it was the imperial domus of Constanti-
nople, the country estates of the high empire, or
the households of a Greek city-state. The unusual
women who appear in the extant ancient litera-
ture were those who extended their sway into the
male sphere. The efforts and compromises they
made to function in a man's world, whether it
was by the adoption of celibacy or the use of
sons as ciphers for legitimacy, are our evidence of
powerful ancient women who stood with author-
ity and power at the edge of male consciousness.
In A to Z of Ancient Greek and Roman Women,
Revised Edition, are the women that even men
could not ignore.
XXVII
A to Z of Ancient Greek and Roman Women
Roman World, ca. Second Century C.E
ATLANTIC
OCEAN
GERMANIA
Region
Pannonia
Subregion or province
Syracuse
City or city-state
Brig antes
Tribe or ethnic group
ALPS
Mountain range
300 miles
300 km
) Infobase Publishing
XXVII
Introduction
XXIX
A to Z of Ancient Greek and Roman Women
XXX
Introduction
XXXI
A to Z of Ancient Greek and Roman Women
r
Roman Empire and Germanic Kingdoms, ca. Fifth Century C.E
4
ATLANTIC
OCEAN
) Infobase Publishing
XXXII
Introduction
Roman Empire, 481
Kingdom of Visigoths, after 41 9
Kingdom of Odacer, 476-493
and of Theodoric, 493
Kingdom of Burgundi, 449
Kingdom of Vandals, 429-534
Kingdom of Suevi, 450-552
Kingdom of Franks, 481
Mediterranean Sea
GERMAN1A Region
Syracuse City or city-state
Saxons Tribe or ethnic group
ALPS Mountain range
h
300 miles
300 km
XXXII
A
6N0
Acte, Claudia
(first century C.E.)
self-made woman
Roman: Italy
Acte was born a slave in Asia Minor. She and the
handsome young emperor Nero became lovers in 55
c.e. Their passion put her in danger of Nero's disap-
proving and powerful mother, the younger Julia
Agrippina. Nero hid their affair. Nero's tutor and
adviser, the philosopher Lucius Annaeus Seneca, and
his friend Annaeus Serenus shared the secret. Acte,
who claimed descent from the kingly Attalidae and
had probably gained her freedom, from the emperor
Claudius, pretended that Serenus was her lover.
It was a short-lived deception. Agrippina dis-
covered the relationship; she only inflamed Nero's
passion by her attacks on Acte. Shifting tactics,
Agrippina offered Nero her rooms for their assig-
nations. Rumors spread that Agrippina sought to
seduce her son. Acte, in fear of her life, told Nero
that his mother boasted of committing incest and
that the troops were grumbling about an incestu-
ous emperor. Alarmed, Nero first avoided Agrip-
pina and later had her killed, in 59 c.e.
Acte could not hold Nero's passion. Even before
Agrippina's murder. Acte had been pushed aside. In
68 c.e., however, the extravagant and beautiful Nero
came to an inglorious end. He returned from Greece
to a corn shortage in Rome, an angry populace, and
a senate that opposed him. Events soon escalated,
and he was declared a public enemy. Finally, he com-
mitted suicide. It was the loyal and loving Acte,
along with his old nurses, who dressed him in gold-
embroidered white robes and carried his ashes to the
Pincian Hill, where he was entombed. Acte, who
had grown wealthy with estates in Sardinia and Italy,
paid 2,000 gold pieces for the funeral of her lover.
Sources
Dio Cassius. Roman History 61 .7 .1 .
Suetonius. The Lives of the Caesars: Nero 28.1, 50.
Tacitus. Annates 13.12-13, 46; 14.2.
Balsdon, J. P. V. D. Roman Women. New York: John Day
Comp., 1963, pp. 108, 128.
Bauman, Richard A. Women and Politics in Ancient Rome.
London: Routledge, 1994, p. 194.
Oxford Classical Dictionary, ed. by Simon Hornblower and
Antony Spawforth. 3d. ed. New York: Oxford Univer-
sity Press, 1996, p. 336.
Pauly, A., G. Wissowa, and W. Kroll. Real-Encyclopadie
d. Classischen Altertumswissenschafi 1893— (Germany:
multiple publishers) 399.
[a] Acutia
(first century c.e.) Roman: Rome
convicted conspirator
Acutia was convicted of treason in the trials that
followed the downfall of Lucius Aelius Sejanus in
I
Ada
the last years of the emperor Tiberius. Although
her full name remains elusive, Acutia's husband
was Publius Vitellius. He committed suicide in
31 c.e. after he had been charged with diverting
military funds to support a conspiracy led by
Sejanus.
The dour and aging emperor had retired to Capri
and left Sejanus in Rome. As prefect of the Praeto-
rian Guard he became the emperors eyes and ears in
the capital. His aspirations grew. He sought to marry
his lover Livia Julia Claudia Livilla, the emperors
niece, and perhaps even become regent for her young
son after the death of Tiberius. His plans had almost
succeeded when the aged emperor charged him with
treason. A purge followed. Prosecutors grew rich
from the trials. In 37 c.e. Laelius Balbus prosecuted
Acutia before the Senate for her presumed participa-
tion in the conspiracy. Although convicted, she may
have escaped death. There is no record of her execu-
tion, and the tribune Junius Otho vetoed the usual
reward taken by a successful prosecutor.
Sources
Tacitus. Annates 6A7.
Levick, Barbara. Tiberius the Politician. London: Thames
and Hudson, 1976, p. 216.
Marsh, Frank Burr. The Reign ofTiberius. New York: Barnes
and Noble, 1931, p. 217.
Marshall, A. J. "Women on Trial before the Roman Sen-
ate." Classical Views 34 (1990): 333-336, 348.
Ada
(fourth century b.c.e)
ruler
Greek: Asia Minor
Ada was the younger daughter of Hecatomnus.
She married her brother Idrieus. They ruled Caria,
in southwestern Asia Minor, as a virtually indepen-
dent satrapy within the Persian empire. Ada and
Idrieus succeeded their brother and sister Mauso-
lus and Artemisia II, famed for building the first
mausoleum and one of the seven wonders of the
ancient world, which Artemisia completed to
memorialize Mausolus after his death.
Ada was the sole ruler of Caria after Idrieus's
death until her brother Pixodarus seized power and
expelled her. She retired to Alinda, a Carian fortress
that remained under her control. In 334 b.c.e., she
allied herself with Alexander the Great when he
invaded Caria. She led the troops that captured
one of the two forts at Halicarnassus.
With Alexander's aid she defeated Pixodarus
and regained control over Caria. She was again the
sole ruler. She adopted Alexander, which assured
his succession and recognized his suzerainty.
Sources
Arrian. Anabasis of Alexander 1.2.3.
Strabo. Geography 114.217, C657.
Brill's New Pauly. Encyclopedia of the Ancient World. Vol. 1,
Classical Tradition. Edited by Manfred Landfester et al.
Boston: Brill, 2002, pp. 130-131.
© Aelia lunilla
(?-31 c.e.) Roman: Rome
political victim
Aelia lunilla died because she was the daughter of
Apicata and Lucius Aelius Sejanus. Her father,
head of the Praetorian Guard, had become the
most powerful man in Rome when he alone had
the ear of the emperor after Tiberius retired to
Capri in 27 c.e. He was also the lover of Livia Julia
Claudia Livilla, widowed daughter-in-law (and
niece) of Tiberius and mother of the emperor's
infant grandson. Around Livilla and Sejanus a con-
spiracy grew. The ailing emperor learned of Seja-
nus's perfidy from the younger Antonia, Livilla's
mother. Vengence followed quickly In October of
31 c.e., the Senate voted to execute Sejanus.
Eight days after her father died, her mother
killed herself. In December lunilla and her young
brother were seized on Senate orders that there be
no descendants of Sejanus. Traditionally, the
Romans did not kill virgins, and it was said that
lunilla was raped before she was strangled.
Sources
Dio Cassius. Roman History 58.1 1, 5.
Tacitus. Annales 6.5, 9.
Levick, Barbara. Tiberius the Politician. London: Thames
and Hudson, 1976, p. 178.
Aelia Paetina
(first century c.e.)
political victim
Roman: Rome
Aelia Paetina married the future emperor Claudius
during the years when it seemed unlikely he would
Aemilia (2)
rule. She had a daughter, Antonia (4), born in
about 28 c.e. When Claudius's prospects improved
in the reign of his nephew Gaius Caligula, he
divorced Aelia to marry the better-connected Vale-
ria Messallina.
After Messallina's death in 48 c.e., the powerful
freedman Narcissus proposed to the emperor that
he remarry Aelia. Aelia, the daughter of Aelius
Catus, consul in 4 c.e., posed no threat to the
imperial freedmen who controlled the bureaucracy
and exercised their influence over Claudius.
Claudius, however, married the younger Agrippina
and Narcissus soon lost his position and his life.
Sources
Suetonius. The Lives of the Caesars: Claudius 26.2, 3.
Tacitus. Annates 12.1-2.
Balsdon, J. P. V. D. Roman Women. New York: John Day
Comp., 1963, p. 122.
Levick, Barbara. Claudius: The Corruption of Power. New
Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 1993, pp. 25,
55, 70.
Syme, Ronald. The Augustan Aristocracy. Oxford: Claren-
don Press, 1986, index.
Aemilia (I)
(second century b.c.e.)
priestess
Roman: Rome
Aemilia was one of three Vestal Virgins charged
with violating the vow of chastity in 114 b.c.e. A
daughter of the clan of the Aemilii, she was one of
the six virgins dedicated for a period of 30 years to
protect the sacred flame of Rome in the temple of
Vesta, the goddess of the hearth, and one of the
oldest temples in the Forum.
Aemilia had an affair with L. Veturius, a Roman
equestrian, and induced two of her sister Vestals,
LiciNiA (4) and Marcia (i), similarly to engage
Veturius's companions. It was said that Aemilia had
several lovers, including Licinia's brother. Tried
before the pontifex maximus, Lucius Caecilius
Metellus, Aemilia was found guilty and condemned
to death. Licinia and Marcia, initially declared
innocent, were retried and condemned the follow-
ing year. Evidence against the women came from a
slave, Manius, who felt insufficiently rewarded by
the women for his role as their go-between.
Romans traditionally regarded violations of
chastity by the Vestal Virgins as signs of ill omen.
Tales of their promiscuity often accompanied other
indications of impending trouble for the city-state
and sometimes preceded periods of political insta-
bility. In 1 1 1 b.c.e. a fire destroyed much of Rome
and during these years there was a war against
Jugurtha of Numidia in North Africa.
Sources
Dio Cassius. Roman History 26.87.
Livy. From the Founding of the City 63.
Orosius. Seven Books of History Against the Pagans 5.15,
20-22.
Plutarch. Moralia: Quaestiones Romanae 83.
Bauman, Richard A. Women and Politics in Ancient Rome.
London: Routledge, 1994, pp. 52-58.
Pauly, A., G. Wissowa, and W. Kroll. ReaTEncyclopadie
d. Classischen Altertumswissenschaft 1893— (Germany:
multiple publishers) 153.
Aemilia (2)
(first century b.c.e.)
political wife
Roman: Rome
Aemilia was the daughter of Caecilia Metella (i)
from the rich and powerful Metelli clan. Aemilia's
father was Marcus Aemilius Scaurus, consul in 1 15
b.c.e. After the death of her father, Aemilia's mother
married Lucius Cornelius Sulla, the general who
later became dictator of Rome. It was considered
the match of the season, a great coup for Sulla who
gained critical political support and wealth from
the Metelli. For Caecilia, it was a chance to play
politics using her family's stature and wealth to sup-
port a newcomer from an old patrician family that
had long been out of the limelight.
Sulla and Caecilia Metella persuaded Gnaeus
Pompeius (Pompey the Great) to divorce his wife
Antistia (2) and marry Aemilia. At the time,
Aemilia was pregnant and living with her husband,
Manius Acilius Glabrio, future consul in 67 b.c.e.
An alliance with Sulla and the Metelli through
Aemilia clearly enhanced and enriched Pompey.
Aemilia's views on her divorce and remarriage
are not known. She died during childbirth in 80
b.c.e. shortly after her marriage with Pompey.
Aemilia Lepida (I)
Sources
Plutarch. Vitae Parallelae (Parallel Lives): Pompeius 9.2.
Plutarch. Vitae Parallelae (Parallel Lives): Sulla 33.3
Haley, Shelly P. "The Five Wives of Pompey the Great."
In Women in Antiquity, ed. by Ian McAuslan and Peter
Walcot. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1996, pp.
103 ff.
Pauly, A., G. Wissowa, and W. Kroll. Real-Encyclopadie
d. Classischen Altertumswissenschaft 1893— (Germany:
multiple publishers) 1 54.
Syme, Ronald. The Roman Revolution. London: Oxford
University Press, 1963, pp. 31-32.
Aemilia Lepida (I)
(first century b.c.e.)
political wife
Roman: Rome
Aemilia Lepida, daughter of Mamercus Lepidus
Livianus, consul in 77 b.c.e., was jilted by Quintus
Caecilius Metellus Pius Scipio. She then agreed to
marry Marcus Porcius Cato Uticensis. The two
men could not have been more dissimilar. Cato
was a self-righteous, unpleasant ascetic, while
Scipio was corrupt and depraved.
On hearing of her engagement, Scipio changed
his mind, and they were married about 73 b.c.e.
Cato wanted to sue Scipio. Dissuaded by friends, he
instead wrote and widely circulated a satiric poem
ridiculing his rival. The result was a lasting feud.
Aemilia Lepidas son, Metellus Scipio, died at 18;
her daughter, Cornelia (6), married Publius Licin-
ius Crassus in 55 b.c.e. He died in 53. In 52, Cor-
nelia married Gnaeus Pompeius (Pompey the
Great) . Aemilia's new son-in-law, one of the most
powerful politicians in Rome, supported the elec-
tion of her husband as consul. Scipio's election made
him immune from any law suits. He thereby avoided
a bribery charge, and Aemilia Lepida became the
wife, as well as the daughter, of a consul.
Sources
Plutarch. Vitae Parallelae (Parallel Lives): Cato Minor 7.
Pauly, A., G. Wissowa, and W. Kroll. Real-Encyclopadie
d. Classischen Altertumswissenschaft 1893— (Germany:
multiple publishers) 166.
Syme, Ronald. The Augustan Aristocracy. Oxford: Claren-
don Press, 1986, p. 245.
[b] Aemilia Lepida (2)
(first century B.c.E.-first century CE.)
Roman: Rome
unjustly convicted of adultery
Aemilia Lepida was successfully prosecuted before
the Senate by her vindictive ex-husband in a curi-
ous case that had political overtones. An aristo-
cratic woman of impeccable lineage, she was the
daughter of Cornelia (7) and the granddaughter
of Mucia Tertia and Gnaeus Pompeius (Pompey
the Great). Her father, Quintus Aemilius Lepidus,
was the son of the triumvir Marcus Aemilius Lepi-
dus and Junia (1). She had been affianced to
Lucius Julius Caesar, the grandson of Augustus,
but Lucius died before the marriage could take
place.
Around 2 c.e., she contracted a less auspicious
marriage with the much older, but wealthy, Pub-
lius Sulpicius Quirinus who had been consul in 12
b.c.e. Three years later they were divorced. She
then married Mamercus Aemilius Scaurus, a dis-
tinguished orator with an unsavory reputation,
who was the last living male of the republican
Aemilii Scauri clan.
In 20 c.e., her divorced first husband, Quiri-
nus, now an even more ancient relic, charged her
with adultery, attempting to poison him, and
falsely claiming that he was the father of her child.
She was also accused of consulting astrologers
about the imperial family, a treasonous offense
under recent imperial Roman law. Her brother
Manius Aemilius Lepidus defended her.
Aemilia Lepida earned a good deal of sympathy
from women. Not only were the charges brought
many years after the divorce, but she, the descen-
dant of a great and noble family, was accused by a
man of lesser distinction in tiresome old age.
The emperor Tiberius played a role in the affair.
Appearing simultaneously magnanimous and con-
demnatory, he ruled that there was no evidence of
treason. Aemilia was, however, convicted of falsely
claiming Quirinus as the father of the child she
bore during their marriage. By default, therefore,
she was guilty of adultery during her marriage with
Quirinus.
Aemilia Lepida (4)
Aemilia was banished, but a plea by Scaurus,
her current husband, waived the confiscation of
her property. Tiberius later announced that her
slaves confessed under torture that she had
attempted to poison her first husband.
Sources
Suetonius. The Lives of the Caesars: Tiberius 49.1.
Tacitus. Annates 3.22-23.
Balsdon, J. P. V. D. Roman Women. New York: John Day
Comp., 1963, p. 220.
Marshall, A. J. "Women on Trial before the Roman Sen-
ate." Classical 'Views 34 (1990): 333-366, p. 343.
Pauly, A., G. Wissowa, and W. Kroll. Real-Encyclopadie
d. Classischen Altertumswissenschaft 1893— (Germany:
multiple publishers) 170.
Syme, R., Augustan Aristocracy. Oxford: Clarendon Press,
1986, pp. 112, 115.
[b] Aemilia Lepida (3)
(first century B.c.E.-first century c.e.)
Roman: Rome
political victim
Aemilia Lepida was a woman of impeccable lin-
eage. Her mother was Julia (7), the child of the
great general Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa, and Julia
(6), the daughter of Augustus and his first wife,
Scribonia. No less illustrious on her father's side,
Aemilia Lepida was the daughter of Lucius
Aemilius Paullus, the brother of Marcus Aemilius
Lepidus, the triumvir.
Her engagement to the future emperor Claudius
ended when her father was executed for treason in
8 C.e. and her mother was banished for adultery.
She later married Marcus Junius Silanus Torquatus,
who had a respectable career, including the consul-
ship in 19 c.e. They had two daughters, Junia
Lepida and Junia Calvina, and three sons, Mar-
cus Junius Silanus, Lucius Junius Silanus Tor-
quatus, and Decimus Junius Silanus Torquatus.
Aemilia Lepidas link to Augustus, however, led
to the downfall of her children. Lucius was forced
to commit suicide, Marcus was executed, and
Junia Calvina was exiled, all through the machina-
tions of the younger Agrippina. Junia Calvina
was later allowed to return to Rome by the
emperor Nero. Nero, however, was responsible for
the forced suicide of Decimus and the condemna-
tion of Junia Lepida. Aemilia Lepidas own death
is not recorded.
Sources
Suetonius. The Lives of "the Caesars: Augustus 19.1.
. The Lives of the Caesars: Claudius 26. 1 .
Tacitus. Annales 12 .4.
Pauly, A., G. Wissowa, and W. Kroll. Real-Encyclopadie
d. Classischen Altertumswissenschaft 1893— (Germany:
multiple publishers) 169.
Syme, Ronald. The Augustan Aristocracy. Oxford: Claren-
don Press, 1986, index.
[b] Aemilia Lepida (4)
(first century c.e.) Roman: Rome
duplicitous wife
Aemilia Lepida and her younger brother, Marcus
Aemilius Lepidus, were the last descendants of the
great republican family of the Aemilii Lepidi.
Aemilia married Drusus Julius Caesar, and Mar-
cus married Drusus's sister, Julia Drusilla (i).
Drusus and his brother Nero Julius Caesar were
the great-grandsons of Augustus and stood in
direct line of succession to the elderly emperor
Tiberius.
Aemilia Lepida was a reputed lover of and pos-
sible coconspirator with Lucius Aelius Sejanus,
commander of the Praetorian Guard. In 30 c.e.
while Sejanus still held power over Rome, her hus-
band was imprisoned. Although the nature of the
offense is not known he died while still in prison
some three years later. In 31 c.e. Sejanus was
charged with treason and executed. Aemilia
remained safe under the protection of her father,
Marcus Aemilius Lepidus, consul in 6 c.e. and a
great favorite of Tiberius.
After her father's death, however, Aemilia was
charged with adultery. She did not try to defend
herself and committed suicide in 36 c.e. Her
brother, the last of the Aemilii, died four years
later, in 39, after having been accused of participa-
tion in a somewhat mysterious conspiracy led by
Gnaeus Cornelius Lentulus Gaetulicus.
Sources
Dio Cassius. Roman History 58.3.8.
Tacitus. Annales 6.40.
Aemilia Tertia
Levick, Barbara. Tiberius the Politician. London: Thames
and Hudson, 1976, pp. 55, 170, 215.
Pauly, A., G. Wissowa, and W. Kroll. Real-Encyclopadie
d. Classischen Altertumswissenschaft 1893— (Germany:
multiple publishers) 167.
Syme, Ronald. The Augustan Aristocracy. Oxford: Claren-
don Press, 1986, p. 136.
Aemilia Tertia
(second-first century b.c.e.)
power broker
Roman: Rome
Aemilia Tertia's life was shaped by the wars against
Carthage. Her father, Lucius Aemilius Paullus,
consul in 219 and 216 b.c.e., died in Hannibal's
defeat of the Romans in 2 1 6 at Cannae in Canus-
ium. Her husband, Publius Cornelius Scipio Afri-
canus Major, led the Romans to victory over
Hannibal at Zama in North Africa in 202.
In 195 b.c.e., Aemilia supported, and possibly
participated in, the popular effort to repeal the
Oppian law. Passed by the Senate as an austerity
measure after the defeat at Cannae, the law barred
displays of status and wealth. Specifically the law
forbade carriages within a mile of Rome or in
Roman towns except for religious festivals, purple
trim on women's clothing, or women's possession
of more than a half an ounce of gold. Although
after Hannibal's defeat, austerity laws directed
against men were lifted, until the women protested
the law remained in effect against them.
All of Aemilia's children left a mark on Roman
history. The eldest, Publius Cornelius Scipio, who
suffered ill health, which prevented him for follow-
ing a military and political career, became an out-
standing orator. The second son, Lucius Cornelius
Scipio, was praetor in 174. Of her two daughters,
the eldest, Cornelia (i), married her cousin Pub-
lius Cornelius Scipio Nasica. The younger, Cor-
nelia (2), married Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus
and was the mother of two of Rome's most famous
reformers, Tiberius and Gaius Sempronius Grac-
chus. In the political battles around the land bills
supported by her grandsons, her son-in-law, Scipio
Nasica, emerged as a leader of the conservative fac-
tion that assassinated Tiberius.
An aprocryphal story about the marriage of the
younger Cornelia possibly suggests something of
Aemilia's expectations of her husband. Attending a
dinner of senators, Scipio was urged by those pres-
ent to arrange his daughter's marriage with Tiberius
Sempronius Gracchus. He agreed, and the contract
was concluded on the spot. On returning home he
told Aemilia. She was furious because she had not
been consulted. She added that it was improper for
him to act without having consulted her, even if
the bridegroom was the desirable Tiberius Sem-
pronius Gracchus.
Aemilia outlived her husband and faced the
political attacks against him that erupted after his
death in the early 180s b.c.e. Since her daughter's
marriage in fact happened after her husband's
death she probably was consulted. She also freed
her husband's slave/lover and arranged for her mar-
riage. While not without precedent, it nonetheless
speaks well for the woman.
Aemilia was independently wealthy, in part,
from her dowry, gifts from her husband, and a
wide circle of clients. Possibly she also benefited
from the spoils of her brother, Lucius Aemilius
Paullus Macedonicus, consul in 168 b.c.e., who
led the Romans to victory in the Third Macedo-
nian War. She was said to have lived and traveled
in comfort, accompanied by a number of retainers.
She left her fortune to Publius Cornelius Africanus
Numantinus, her adopted grandson. The date of
Aemilia's death is unknown.
Sources
Livy. Prom the Founding of the City 38.57.5—8.
Polybius. Histories 31.26.1-6; 31.27.1-4.
Valerius Maximus. Factorum et dictorum memorabilium
libri IX 6.7.1.
Balsdon, J. P. V. D. Roman Women. New York: John Day
Comp., pp. 47, 215.
Bauman, Richard A. Women and Politics in Ancient Rome.
London: Routledge, 1994, index.
Pomeroy, Sarah B. Goddesses, Whores, Wives, and Slaves:
Women in Classical Antiquity. New York: Schocken
Books, 1975, passim.
Pauly, A., G. Wissowa, and W. Kroll. Real-Encyclopadie
d. Classischen Altertumswissenschaft 1893— (Germany:
multiple publishers) 180.
Agariste (2)
[b] Afriana (Carfania)
(?— 48 b.c.e.) Roman: Rome
advocate
Afriana, also called Carfania, represented herself
and others in cases brought before the praetor. The
wife of Licinius Bucco, a senator of the first cen-
tury b.c.e., Afriana lived during a time of turmoil
and civil war when many men were in flight, in the
army, or dead. Families found themselves pulled
apart by the passions of the times and sometimes
on opposing sides. Afriana, like other women,
moved into spheres of activity usually reserved for
men: She went into the law courts.
Afriana's success irritated some and provoked
others to ridicule, which reflected the Romans'
contradictory views of women and the law. On
one hand, women were assumed to be unknowing
and in need of protection. On the other hand,
ignorance of the law, even on the part of a woman,
was not an acceptable defense in the courts.
By the later first century b.c.e., however, women
owned property in their own name and increas-
ingly both sued and were sued. After Afriana, how-
ever, the law was changed so that women could
plead for themselves before a magistrate but were
prohibited from representing others. Afriana died
in 48 b.c.e.
Sources
Ulpian. The Civil Law 11.1.232n.30.
Valerius Maximus. Factorum et dictorum memorabilium
libri 1X8.3.2.
Bauman, Richard A. Women and Politics in Ancient Rome.
London: Routledge, 1994, pp. 50-51.
Marshall, A. J. "Ladies at Law: The Role of Women in the
Roman Civil Courts." In Studies in Latin Literature and
Roman History, ed. by C. Deroux. Brussels, Belgium:
Latomus, 1989, pp. 38-54.
[a] Agariste ( I )
(sixth century b.c.e.)
Greek: Sicyon and Athens
mother of Cleisthenes
Agariste was the daughter of Cleisthenes, ruler of
Sicyon, a Greek city northwest of Corinth, in the
years between 600-570 b.c.e. Cleisthenes deter-
mined that Agariste would marry the best man in
all of Greece. At the conclusion of the Olympic
Games in c. 576 b.c.e., he invited worthy contes-
tants to arrive in Sicyon within the next 60 days
and spend a year as his guests. At the end of that
time, one among them would marry his daughter.
Thirteen eminent men from 12 cities accepted the
challenge. Cleisthenes assessed their families, expecta-
tions, and cities of origin. He tested their prowess in
wresding and running. At the end of a year, he gave a
banquet and invited everyone in the city.
His favorite appeared to be Hippocleides,
described as the wealthiest and the most handsome
of the Athenians. Under the influence of too much
wine, however, Hippocleides danced on a table and
stood on his head waving his legs. Outraged at this
behavior, Cleisthenes instead chose Megacles, a
member of the aristocratic Alcmaeonidae of Athens.
Agariste gave birth to two children: Cleisthenes,
who became the Athenian statesman regarded as
the creator of Athenian democracy, and Hip-
pocrates, the father of Agariste (2).
Sources
Herodotus. The Persian Wars 6. 1 26-3 1 .
Blundell, Sue. Women in Ancient Greece. London: British
Museum Press, 1995, p. 67.
Hammond, N. G. L. A History of Greece. Oxford: Oxford
University Press, 1967, p. 148.
Pomeroy, Sarah B. Goddesses, Whores, Wives, and Slaves:
Women in Classical Antiquity. New York: Schocken
Books, 1975, pp. 34-35.
Agariste (2)
(c. 520/510 b.c.e,
mother of Pericles
Greek: Athens
Agariste was born between 520 and 510 b.c.e. She
was the daughter of Hippocrates, the son of
Agariste (i), after whom she was named. Her
father was a member of the family of the aristocratic
Alcmaeonidae, and her uncle was Cleisthenes, who
was one of the founders of Athenian democracy.
She married Xanthippus, an Athenian politi-
cian and general who helped defeat the Persians at
the battle of Mycale in 479. According to Herodo-
tus, Agariste dreamed that her son was delivered by
Agariste (3)
a lion. The son, born in 494 b.c.e., became the
great Athenian statesman Pericles. She had two
other children: Ariphron (II), named after her hus-
band's father, and a daughter who died of the
plague in 430.
Sources
Herodotus. The Persian Wars 6.131.
Plutarch. Vitae Parallelae (Parallel Lives): Pericles 3.1—2.
Davies, J. K. Athenian Propertied Families, 600—300 B.C.
Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1971, pp. 456^57.
Agariste (3)
(fifth century b.c.e.)
witness
Greek: Athens
Agariste testified against the brilliant, dissolute,
and popular general Alcibiades at his celebrated
trial in Athens (415 b.c.e.). She was a member of
the aristocratic Alcmaeonidae family and the wife
of Alcmaeonides, a leading Athenian.
Agariste had witnessed Alcibiades and his
friends in a drunken revel staging a travesty of the
sacred Eleusinian rites for goddesses Demeter and
Kore. The episode happened at night in the house
of Charmides, a friend of Alcibiades. It is possible,
and even probable, that Agariste was visiting kin
when the event happened.
Few extant records record women's court testi-
mony in fifth century Athens, nor are there many
records of well-born women moving around the
city after dark.
Sources
Andocides. On the Mysteries 1.16.
Plutarch. Vitae Parallelae (Parallel Lives): Alcibiades 19.1-2.
MacDowell, Douglas M., ed. Andokides, On the Mysteries.
Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1962, p. 75.
Pomeroy, Sarah B. Goddesses, Whores, Wives, and Slaves:
Women in Classical Antiquity. New York: Schocken
Books, 1975, pp. 81, 119.
[b] Agathocleia
(third century b.c.e.)
Greek: Samos and Egypt
adventurer and murderer
Agathocleia came to Egypt from the island of
Samos off the coast of Asia Minor with her brother,
Agathocles, and their mother, Oenanthe. The
name of their father is unknown. Agathocleia was
a dancer, and her mother played the tambourine.
Oenanthe became one of Ptolemy Ill's many lov-
ers and brought her children into the life of the
palace. Shortly after Ptolemy IV became ruler in
221 b.c.e., he became wildly infatuated with
Agathocleia. It was rumored that through him she
controlled Egypt.
In 205 b.c.e. Agathocleia and her brother
arranged the murder of Ptolemy IV and his wife,
Arsinoe III Philopator. The conspirators included
Oenanthe and Sosibius, guardian of Ptolemy's son.
The deaths were kept secret for several days while
Agathocles had himself appointed regent. Philam-
mon, a coconspirator and murderer of Arsinoe, left
Alexandria, and Agathocleia and Oenanthe took
over care of the five-year-old boy-ruler.
The murder of Arsinoe, even more than the
death of Ptolemy, aroused the anger of the Greek
troops and the Alexandrian populace. A crowd,
eager for revenge, collected at the stadium. A naked
Agathocleia, along with her mother, brother, sisters,
and relatives, were turned over to the mob and torn
limb from limb. The women, especially those who
had been close to Arsinoe, led the slaughter.
Sources
Athenaeus. Deipnosophistae 13.577.
Plutarch. Moralia: Amatorius 9.
Polybius. Histories. 14.11.2; 15.25.3-33.
Pomeroy, Sarah B. Women in Hellenistic Egypt. New York:
Schocken, 1984, passim.
Agesistrata
(?-24l b.c.e.;
reformer
Greek: Sparta
Agesistrata, and her mother Archidamia, and her
daughter-in-law Agiatis were among the wealthi-
est women in Sparta during the middle decades of
the third century b.c.e. They were committed to
reform, especially land reform. Along with their
friends, retainers and dependents, they constituted
an influential political bloc in support of Agis IV,
who led a reformist revolution in 244 b.c.e. to
overthrow the reigning ruler, Leonidas II.
8
Agrippina the Elder, Vipsania
Agis IV, who was Agesistrata's son, was deposed
and killed in 24 1 . After her son's death, Agesistrata
and her mother were executed. She died willingly,
her final wish being that her death benefit Sparta.
Sources
Plutarch. Vitae Parallelae (Parallel Lives): Agesilaus 4.2; 7.7;
9.5-6; 20.7.
Mosse, Claude. "Women in the Spartan Revolutions of
the Third Century B.C." In Women's History and Ancient
History, ed. by Sarah B. Pomeroy. Chapel Hill: Univer-
sity of North Carolina Press, 1991, pp. 138-153.
[a] Agiatis
(third century b.c.e.) Greek: Sparta
reformer
Agiatis, the wealthy daughter of Gylippos, a well-
respected Spartan, was heir to her fathers fortune.
Committed to reform, she was part of an aristo-
cratic and wealthy faction that also included her
mother-in-law, Agesistrata, and the latter's
mother, Archidamia.
Her first husband, Agis IV, seized power from
the ruler Leonidas II in 244 b.c.e. at a time when a
small oligarchy controlled large estates, and held
mortgages on much of the remaining farmland. It
was also a period of declining population, which
seriously depleted manpower for the military and
labor for agriculture. Agis sponsored a number of
reforms and abolished mortgages to relieve debt. A
conservative revolt led by the deposed Leonidas in
241 resulted in the death of Agis and left Agiatis a
widow with a small son.
Leonidas sought to marry Agiatis to his son
Cleomenes, who was quite young. Agiatis who
wanted no part of a marriage to Cleomenes or any-
one else married under protest. In 235 Cleomenes
followed Leonidas as ruler. Influenced by Agiatis
and her circle, Cleomenes III pursued the reform
policies that had been an anathema to his father,
and in 227-226 he canceled debts, redistributed
land, and extended citizenship to some of the
indigenous population and resident aliens. During
the same years he was also successful in war and
expanded Spartan territory; however, his policies
garnered opposition, and he was overthrown in
222. He fled to Egypt, where he committed sui-
cide in 219. It is not known what happened to
Agiatis or her son.
Sources
Plutarch. Vitae Parallelae (Parallel Lives): Agesilaus 4.2.
Plutarch. Vitae Parallelae (Parallel Lives): Cleomenes 1.1—3.
[b] Aglaonice
(fourth century b.c.e.) Greek: Thessaly
seer, prophet, astronomer, sorceress
Aglaonice was from Thessaly, which since the time
of Alexander the Great in the fourth century b.c.e.
had a reputation for circles of women with astro-
logical and astronomical knowledge. Aglaonice
was reputed to prophesize the eclipses of the moon.
Her skill in prediction was confused with an ability
to cause the eclipse and make the moon reappear
after an eclipse.
Sources
Plutarch. Coniugalia praecepta 48, 145c; de. def., 13, 417a.
Brill's New Pauly: Encyclopedia of the Ancient World: Classi-
cal Tradition, Vol. 1, edited by Manfred Landfester et al.
Boston: Brill, 2002, p. 343.
Pomeroy, Sarah, ed. Plutarch's Advice to the Bride and Groom
and a Consolation to His Wife. New York: Oxford Uni-
versity Press, 1999.
[b] Agrippina the Elder, Vipsania
(c. 14 B.C.E.-33 C.E.)
Roman: Germany and Rome
political player and power broker
Vipsania Agrippina was an extraordinarily power-
ful and ambitious woman fully conscious of her
noble heritage and determined to see that she, her
husband, and their children received the titles,
honors, respect, and positions due them. She was
the daughter of Julia (6), the only child of Augus-
tus and his first wife, Scribonia. Her father was
Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa, Augustus's greatest
general and closest confidant.
Around 5 c.e., Agrippina married Germanicus
Julius Caesar, whose lineage matched hers. He was
the son of Nero Claudius Drusus and the younger
Antonia. His father was the brother of the future
Agrippina the Elder, Vipsania
rfrfPft
m
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■ si
L @i- lit-
The deified Vipsania Agrippina was commemorated with this coin after her death.
(Date: 37 C.E.-4I C.E. 1952.81.2, Archives, American Numismatic Society)
emperor Tiberius; his mother, the daughter of
Mark Antony and the independent-minded sister
of Augustus, Octavia (2). In 4 c.e., Augustus
adopted Tiberius, who in turn, adopted Germani-
cus as his son to form a line of Active kin and
ensure the future of the family and state.
Agrippina accompanied her husband on his
campaign to lower Germany in 14 c.e. She was
generous and popular with the troops, whom she
helped with food, clothing, and medical care. Sto-
ries about her echo the attributes of courage and
strong character that marked the ancient heroines.
In 15 c.e., as Roman troops retreated toward a
bridge that crossed the Rhine, pursued by the Ger-
mans, Agrippina stationed herself at the head of
the bridge and stopped the retreat. The troops
stood their ground and won the battle.
In 18 C.E., Agrippina, pregnant with her ninth
child, accompanied her husband to Syria, after
Tiberius made Germanicus consul with responsi-
bility for all the provinces in the East. A military
man himself, Tiberius was not comfortable with
Germanicus's overly aggressive tactics and sent his
friend Gnaeus Calpurnius Piso as governor to
encourage a more moderate policy. Piso went to
Syria with his wife, Munatia Plancina, a woman
as strong, outspoken, and arrogant as Agrippina.
The two men did not like each other and did not
get along. Nor did the two women.
When Munatia criticized Germanicus before
the troops, Germanicus ordered Piso and his wife
to leave Syria. They went to the island of Cos off
the coast of Asia Minor. On October 10, 19 c.e.,
Germanicus died of a mysterious illness in Antioch.
Before he died, he accused Piso and Munatia of
poisoning him. Piso and Munatia openly rejoiced
at the death of Germanicus and immediately
sought to reassert their authority.
Agrippina believed not only that Germanicus had
been poisoned by Piso and Munatia, but also that
Tiberius was behind the deed. She returned to Rome
with her husbands ashes, determined to avenge his
death and to promote the interests of her six surviv-
ing children: Drusus Julius Caesar, Nero Julius Cae-
sar, Gaius Caligula, the younger Agrippina, Julia
Drusilla (i), and Julia Livilla. The population of
Rome turned out to pay Germanicus homage. The
emperors mother, Livia Drusilla; the taciturn
Tiberius; and Antonia, Germanicus's own mother,
did not attend the ceremonies. People took their
absence as confirmation that Tiberius might have
had a hand in the death of Germanicus.
10
Agrippina the Elder, Vipsania
Agrippina brought formal charges against Piso
and Munatia. Poisoning could not be proved so
the main charge was treason. Tiberius presided
over the trial in the Senate. Piso killed himself
before the end of the trial after having written to
Tiberius protesting his loyalty. Munatia's trial had
been separated from that of her husband. Livia,
her close friend, intervened; Tiberius told the Sen-
ate that his mother wanted no action taken against
Munatia, and she escaped conviction. Agrippina
was furious. She and Livia, who had long disliked
each other, were further alienated.
Agrippina spent the years 19—29 c.e. in Rome
working to promote her sons as heir to Tiberius.
Livia Julia Claudia Livilla and Lucius Aelius Seja-
nus, prefect of the Praetorian Guard, were her
opponents. Livilla, the sister of Germanicus, was
Agrippinas sister-in-law. She was the grand-niece of
Augustus and the widow of Tiberius's son, Drusus
Julius Caesar. Sejanus was a military man of eques-
trian background who had become Tiberius's confi-
dant, and after 27 c.e., when Tiberius retired from
Rome to Capri, he controlled access to the emperor.
Although an uncle on his mother's side had been a
consul suffectus, Sejanus had neither family nor
family connections in the senatorial class that
allowed him any aspiration to achieve for himself
the position of emperor. In the person of Livilla, he
found an ally whose sons were possible successors.
Sejanus and Livilla became lovers and schemed to
make Livilla's son the successor to Tiberius.
Agrippina was at the center of a group of pow-
erful people who hated and resented the enormous
influence exercised by Sejanus. They regarded his
background with arrogant distaste and his position
as an impediment to their own power. The senato-
rial families who supported Agrippina acted in the
belief that tradition was on their side. There may
have been an attempted conspiracy to supplant
Tiberius with Agrippinas oldest son, Drusus Julius
Caesar.
In 24, Sejanus initiated a barrage of legal attacks
against Agrippina and her supporters. In the subse-
quent trials, some were exiled; others committed
suicide or were executed. Despite the coolness
between Agrippina and Livia, however, so long as
Livia remained alive, Sejanus could not directly
attack her or her children. Short of the emperor,
Livia alone could forestall Sejanus.
In 25, Tiberius refused Sejanus's request to
marry Livilla. In 26, Tiberius also refused Agrippi-
nas request to marry. Gaius Asinius Gallus, a wid-
ower and no friend of Tiberius, was the man most
likely to have been Agrippinas choice. Her inten-
tion may well have been to ally herself with a man
of suitable background who could and would pro-
mote her interests. Gallus was known to be ambi-
tious, and married to Agrippina, he might become
the stepfather of an emperor. Tiberius, however,
hated Gallus, who had once married his former
wife, Vipsania Agrippina.
Sejanus harassed Agrippina and fed her belief
that the emperor had poisoned her husband. She
came to believe that Tiberius intended also to poi-
son her. While dinning with the emperor, she did
not eat and when offered some fruit by Tiberius,
she instead handed it to her servants. Tiberius
remarked to his mother that it would not be sur-
prising if he took action against someone who
thought he was trying to poison her.
Tiberius made no immediate move against
Agrippina or her sons. Doing so would have caused
a confrontation with his mother who was already in
her 80s. After the death of Livia in 29, however,
Tiberius sent a letter to the Senate in which he
accused Agrippina of arrogance and pride and her
son Nero of homosexuality. Supporters of Agrip-
pina gathered outside the Senate with signs and
shouted that the letter was a fabrication of Sejanus.
The Senate did nothing. Sejanus informed Tiberius
of the Senate's inaction and the behavior of the
mob. Tiberius sent another letter that denounced
the actions of the crowd and demanded that the
matter be decided by him. Agrippina was exiled to
the tiny island of Pandateria off the coast of Cam-
pania. Nero was banished to Pontia off the same
coast and executed or forced to commit suicide in
31. In 30, Sejanus convinced Tiberius that Agrippi-
nas son Drusus was also a threat and should be
imprisoned. He was incarcerated under the palace.
In 31, the end came for Sejanus. Following
receipt of information from the younger Antonia,
Agrippina the Younger, Julia
mother-in-law to Agrippina and mother to Livilla,
Tiberius ordered Sejanus imprisoned for treason.
Sejanus was strangled on October 18. His death
did not help Agrippina, who died of starvation in
33, as did her son Drusus.
After her death, Tiberius accused Agrippina of
adultery with Gallus. Agrippina's reputation for
chastity, however, was only equaled by that of
Tiberius's mother, Livia. The very characteristics
for which Tiberius hated Agrippina — ambition
and determination — were those for which she was
also most honored. She would have rejoiced to see
that in the end it was her son Caligula who suc-
ceeded Tiberius as emperor of Rome.
Sources
Suetonius. The Lives of the Caesars: Tiberius 53.
Tacitus. Annates 1.33, 69; 2.43, 55, 70, 72, 75; 3.1, 3-4,
17; 4.12, 17, 40, 52-54, 60; 5.3-4; 6.25.
Balsdon, J. P. V. D. Roman Women. New York: John Day
Comp., 1963, passim.
Bauman, Richard A. Women and Politics in Ancient Rome.
London: Routledge, X^^t, passim.
Levick, Barbara. Tiberius the Politician. London: Thames
and Hudson, 1976, passim.
Marsh, Frank Burr. The Reign ofTiberius. New York: Barnes
and Noble, 1 93 1 , passim.
Oxford Classical Dictionary, ed. by Simon Hornblower and
Antony Spawforth. 3d. ed. New York: Oxford Univer-
sity Press, 1996, p. 1,601.
Syme, Ronald. Tacitus. 2 vols. Oxford: Clarendon Press,
1958, passim.
[b] Agrippina the Younger, Julia
(15-59 c.e.) Roman: Italy
Augusta; political player
Julia Agrippina grew up under the influence of her
formidable mother the elder, Vipsania Agrippina.
Like her mother, she was ambitious for herself and
her son, and had witnessed the destruction wrought
by ambition on members of her family and friends
close to the emperor. No more ruthless than those
around her, she was exiled and recalled, hated and
adored. A brilliant woman, politically astute,
charming on occasion, and cultured, she left a now
lost memoir that justified her choices during the
reigns of three different emperors, one of whom
was her brother; the second, her husband; and the
third, her son.
The younger Agrippina was born on November
6, 15 c.e., at Ara Ubiorum (modern Cologne),
one of nine children and the eldest daughter of
Agrippina and Germanicus Julius Caesar. Her
father was Augustus's stepgrandson, and her
mother was Augustus's granddaughter by his only
child Julia (6). Agrippina the Younger married
Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus in 28, when she
was 13. He was described as despicable, cruel, and
dishonest. He was also rich.
Only a year later, in 29, Agrippina's mother and
brother Nero Julius Caesar were banished by
Tiberius for plotting against him. In 31, Nero
Julius Caesar died through either murder or sui-
cide, and in 33, her mother died by starvation. Her
brother Drusus Julius Caesar, imprisoned in 30,
died in prison in 33.
Julia Agrippina's son Nero Claudius Caesar was
born in 37, the same year that her one surviving
brother, Gaius Caligula, succeeded Tiberius as
emperor. Caligula honored Agrippina along with
his two other surviving sisters as honorary Vestal
<&s$k
Julia Agrippina
(Date: 51 C.E.-52 C.E. 1001.130042, Archives,
American Numismatic Society)
12
Agrippina the Younger, Julia
Virgins and raised their status and influence with
an honor that was without precedent by adding
their names to the annual oaths of allegiance to the
emperor. When Julia Drusilla (i), Caligula's
favorite, died in 38, he deified her.
After her sister's death, Agrippina had an affair
with her brother-in-law, Marcus Aemilius Lepi-
dus, who may have had his eye on succession as
perhaps did Agrippina. In 39, Caligula exiled
Agrippina for joining a plot to assassinate him,
although what actually happened remains a mys-
tery. It is possible that Agrippina and her only sur-
viving sister, Julia Livilla, feared that their
increasingly irrational brother might turn on
them. Their position was further threatened by
Milonia Caesonia, whom Caligula married in
40, already pregnant with a child.
Agrippina returned from exile when Claudius
became emperor in 41 c.e., a year after her hus-
band Domitius Ahenobarbus died. She set out to
protect and promote the interests of her son, the
future emperor Nero, and to find a new husband.
Possibly, she married Lucius Cornelius Sulla Felix,
consul in 33, but if so, the marriage was short-
lived. Servius Sulpicius Galba better fit her needs.
He was very wealthy and liked by Claudius; how-
ever, he had a wife, Aemilia Lepida. Aemilia's
mother was said to have slapped Agrippina in pub-
lic over her forward behavior. Agrippina finally set-
tled on Gaius Passienus Crispus, consul in 44, a
very wealthy older man.
The fact that Passienus Crispus was already mar-
ried to a most formidable woman failed to deter
Agrippina. His wife, Domitia, Agrippina's former
sister-in-law, was not a woman easily thrust aside.
She and her sister Domitia Lepida had hated
Agrippina since her earlier marriage to their
brother, and they took every opportunity to under-
mine her. Their hatred was returned in full.
Agrippina was said to have poisoned Passienus
Crispus for his wealth, and in 48, with the death of
Claudius's wife Valeria Messallina, she focused
on her uncle. Never one to leave her affairs with
men to chance, she used Marcus Antonius Pallas,
one of the powerful freedmen surrounding
Claudius, to further her influence. Successful in
her pursuit, she married Claudius in 49, after the
Senate removed the prohibition against marriage
between uncle and niece. Possibly to her credit, the
next years of his reign were marked by increased
cooperation with the Senate and a decline in extra-
judicial murder.
With Pallas's aid, she persuaded Claudius to
adopt Nero. In 50, he became one of the emperor's
two sons. The other, Britannicus, son of Valeria
Messallina, was younger by several years. Agrip-
pina also arranged to have Nero marry Claudia
Octavia, Claudius's daughter. Only nine years old
at the time of Agrippina's marriage with Claudius,
she had been affianced to Lucius Junius Silanus
since infancy. With the help of Lucius Vitellius,
Claudius's close confidant and adviser, Silanus was
accused of incest with his sister Junia Calvina. He
committed suicide in 49, on the day that Agrip-
pina married Claudius, and Junia Calvina was
banished by her. Nero and Claudia Octavia mar-
ried in 53.
Never one for half-measures, Agrippina elimi-
nated real and potential enemies. She had Silanus's
brother, the unambitious Marcus Junius Silanus,
poisoned so that his connections to Augustus
would not imperil her son's claim, as well as to pre-
vent any possibility that he would seek to avenge
his brother's death. She arranged the execution of
the powerful freedman Narcissus, who had urged
Claudius to marry another woman. She also rid
herself of possible rivals and arranged to have the
beautiful Lollia Paulina, a former wife of her
brother Gaius Caligula, and whom Claudius found
attractive, charged with using magic, banished,
and eventually killed.
With Nero positioned to become emperor,
Agrippina would tolerate no rival for her son's
affections. In 54 she had her old enemy Domitia
Lepida accused of using magic and posing a threat
to Italy from the slaves on her vast estates in Cal-
abria. Domitia was the grandmother of Britanni-
cus, Nero's rival for the emperorship, and she had
pampered Nero during the three years his mother
was in exile. She was put to death.
Agrippina received the title Augusta, only the
second woman to be so honored while alive and
13
Albina the Elder
the first to carry the title during her husband's life-
time. Despite widespread and malicious gossip
that she had poisoned Claudius, Nero followed
Claudius as emperor in 54. On every count Agrip-
pina had succeeded. She was truly her mothers
daughter.
She exercised enormous power during the early
years of Nero's reign, generally viewed as Nero's
best years. However, her domination of his life
came to a predictable end. Nero had an affair with
Acte, a freedwoman, in spite of Agrippina's objec-
tions. Agrippina's lover, Pallas, lost his power, and
Lucius Annaeus Seneca and Sextus Afranius Bur-
rus, Nero's closest advisers, turned against her. In
order to frighten Nero, Agrippina seems to have
hinted that she might support efforts to supplant
him with his younger stepbrother Britannicus. In
55, Nero had Britannicus murdered.
Nero then fell in love with Poppaea Sabina (2),
a woman whom Agrippina hated and feared for her
lowly origins and for her influence over Nero. Pop-
paea hated Agrippina, no less. She forced Nero to
choose between herself and his mother. Nero had
long been exasperated over his mother's attempts to
dominate him and control his public behavior. The
threat alone or in combination with other circum-
stances marked the end of Agrippina's dominion.
An elaborate plot was developed. A freedman,
Anicetus, who hated Agrippina, arranged to have a
ship on which Agrippina was to travel sink at sea
and drown her. The plot failed. The ship did not
completely sink, and Agrippina managed to swim
ashore. Anicetus was less inventive the second
time. Caught stretched out on her couch, she was
repeatedly stabbed by Anicetus's henchmen. She
was cremated the same night.
Sources
Dio Cassius. Roman History 52.1-14; 59.22.5-9; 60.4.2;
61.31.6, 8; 61.32.
Suetonius. The Lives of the Caesars: Gaius Caligula 7.
. The Lives of the Caesars: Claudius 26.3; 39.2;
43.44.
. The Lives of the Caesars: Nero 5.2; 6.1-4; 28.2;
34.1-4.
Tacitus. Annates 4.53; 12.1-9, 22, 25-27, 37, 41-42, 56-
59, 64-69; 13.1-2, 5, 13-16, 18-21; 14.1-12.
Balsdon, J. P. V. D. Roman Women. New York: John Day
Comp., 1963.
Barrett, Anthony A. Agrippina: Sex, Power, and Politics in
the Early Empire. New Haven, Conn.: Yale University
Press, 1996.
Bauman, Richard A. Women and Politics in Ancient Rome.
London: Routledge, 1994.
Ferrill, A. Caligula: Emperor of Rome. London: Thames and
Hudson, 1991.
Ginsberg, Judith. Representing Agrippina: Constructions of
Female Power in the Early Roman Empire. New York:
Oxford University Press, 2006.
Levick, Barbara. Claudius: The Corruption of Power. New
Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 1993.
Oxford Classical Dictionary, ed. by Simon Hornblower and
Antony Spawforth. 3d. ed. New York: Oxford Univer-
sity Press, 1996, p. 777.
Pauly, A., G. Wissowa, and W. Kroll. Real-Encyclopadie
d. Classischen Altertumswissenschaft 1893-. (Germany:
multiple publishers) 556.
Syme, Ronald. The Augustan Aristocracy. Oxford: Claren-
don Press, 1986, p. 172.
. Tacitus. 2 vols. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1958,
passim.
[a] Albina the Elder
(?-388 c.e.) Roman: Rome
Christian ascetic
Albina lived during the political and religious tur-
moil of the fourth century that included Goths
invading Italy and Christianization of the Roman
elite. Her patrician family, the Caeionii, exempli-
fied the process of intermarriage between Chris-
tians and pagans that enabled Christianity to
permeate the senatorial ranks. Although her hus-
band and mother's names are unknown, her father
was Caeionius Rufus Albinus, consul 345 and 346
c.e. Albina's two daughters, Marcella and Asella,
gained renown as ascetics in the early monastic
movement of Christianity. After the death of her
husband, Albina remained a celibate widow, a
Christian univira, who married only once and was
respected by pagan and Christian alike.
Albina owned vast estates in multiple provinces
across the empire that she had inherited from her
family and her husband and over which she had
the right to bequeath, sell, or donate as she chose.
14
Albina the Younger
In senatorial families like hers, there was a tension
between maintaining the integrity of family wealth
and assuring its transfer to the next generation and
the choice of an ascetic lifestyle, especially when it
included donations of family property to support
monasteries and the church.
The situation was particularly stark for Albinas
family since neither of her daughters was likely to
bear children. The elder one, Marcella, was wid-
owed only seven months after her marriage and
before she had any children. Albina proposed a
second marriage to an elderly suitor Naeratius
Cerealis. Despite a settlement that would have left
Marcella among the wealthiest women in Rome,
she refused. Asella, the younger daughter, never
married and since youth pursued a monastic life.
Albina compromised with her family to protect
the family property and allow her and her daugh-
ters to pursue ascetic lives. She gave the greater
portion of her wealth to her brother, C. Caeionius
Rufus, and to his children, her nieces and neph-
ews. Marcella did the same. Freed from the burden
of her wealth, Albina lived with her daughters on
the Aventine, a wealthy residential section of the
city, in a community of like-minded women who
practiced simplicity of person, prayer, and study of
the scriptures. They left the house infrequently,
most often on errands of mercy.
Albina died in 388 c.e.
Sources
Jerome. Letter 44, 127.
Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire. Vol. I. Edited by
A. H. M. Jones, J. R. Martindale, and J. Morris. Cam-
bridge: Cambridge University Press, 1971. Reprinted
1992. p. 32.
Yarbrough, Anne. "Christianization in the Fourth Century:
The Example of Roman Women." Church History 45,
no. 2 (June 1976): 150-155.
Albina the Younger
(c. 370-431 c.e.)
Roman: Italy, North Africa, and Palestine
devout Christian
Albina sought a middle way that avoided the rigor-
ous asceticism of her daughter, the younger Mela-
nia, yet acknowledged her attraction to an ascetic
life. Fortunate or sagacious, she successfully
divested herself of her estates at the very moment
the Goths circled Rome. She left Italy for Africa as
the Goths sacked Rome, and she never returned.
Albina was the granddaughter of C. Caeionius
Rufus, brother of the elder Albina, who had suc-
cessfully maintained the Caeionii family line after
his sister and her daughters, Marcella and Asella,
had retreated into an ascetic life. It is unknown if
her father, Ceionius Rufius Albinus, prefect of Rome
in 389-391 c.e., was pagan. Her grandmother
Caecina Lolliana was a priestess of Isis and her uncle
Publilius Caeionius Caecina Albinus was a Roman
pontifex responsible for official state cults.
Albina married Valerius Publicola — a union she
entered reluctantly. Since youth, she had been
drawn to the ascetic examples of her great-aunt the
elder Albina and her cousins Marcella and Asella.
Albina named her daughter after her mother-in-
law, the elder Melania, a renowned Christian
ascetic. It was perhaps no surprise when the
younger Melania sought to emulate her older
female relatives and live an ascetic life. Albina and
her husband, however, acting in a manner reminis-
cent of her own parents, persuaded Melania to
marry Valerius Pinianus, scion of another ancient
aristocratic family.
After the death of her two young children, the
younger Melania convinced her husband to prac-
tice celibacy and distribute their vast fortune to
charity. Albina, her husband, and the extended
families on both sides opposed the couple's deci-
sion. The future of two families rested on Melania
and Pinianus. With the exception of Albina's
brother who did not marry, they were the only sur-
viving members of their respective families from
whom children could come.
The families acted to thwart the couple, at least
in their effort to disperse the family property. Albina
reluctantly joined her husband in a suit against the
younger couple that claimed they were minors and
therefore without full authority over their assets.
Albinas reluctance may have been further height-
ened by pressure from her renowned mother-in-law
who had returned to Italy after an absence of 27
15
Albina the Younger
years, in part to encourage her grandchildren to live
celibate lives. The elder Melania stayed with the
family on her trip to Italy. She strengthened the
young couples resolve and urged Albina and Publi-
cola to moderate their opposition. She succeeded.
Publicola relented. He gave his support to the
young couple just before his death sometime in
406 c.e., after his mothers departure.
After Publicola died, and Albina was free to fol-
low her own inclinations, she joined Melania and
Pinianus in a modest villa on the Appian Way, and
Pinianus put his palatial house on the Aventine up
for sale. However, they were still threatened with
suits over the family property from members of the
extended families whose networks of relationships
dominated the Senate. They sought imperial inter-
vention from the emperor in Ravenna through
Serena who was in Rome. She was the right choice.
The emperor had grown up in her household, and
her husband, Stilicho, had been regent for the
emperor during his minority. Serena, herself a
Christian, obliged. She secured an edict that allowed
Melania and Pinianus not only to dispose of their
assets, but to use governors in the provinces in
which they owned properties to act as their agents
and to remit the proceeds to them directly.
It was none too soon to sell. The Goths were in
Italy and heading to Rome. Pinianus was already
unable to find a buyer for his large house as politi-
cal and economic conditions rapidly deteriorated.
In 408, Albina went with Melania, Pinianus, and
their respective entourages to Sicily. From there
Melania, Pinianus, and presumably Albina suc-
cessfully sold their Italian holdings. Two years later,
Alaric and the Goths sacked Rome and the three of
them left Sicily for North Africa. Before leaving
they managed to liquidate estates in Sicily and
everywhere else except Spain and Africa. Although
not as wealthy as her daughter and son-in-law,
Albina was a large landholder. In addition to her
father's wealth, some part of the holdings of her
great-aunt, the elder Albina, had become hers. She
benefited from divesting her estates just in time as
did her daughter and son-in-law.
After the sack of Rome in 410, many wealthy
Romans left for Africa, especially those with family
or business connections there. Albina and her
daughter and son-in-law arrived with significant
amounts of liquid capital. They settled on their
unsold estates in Tagaste, a region that had once
been rich farmland, but a long period of Roman
mismanagement and corruption compounded by
drought had impoverished the area and eroded the
urban infrastructure. It also was an area in which
orthodox Christianity, favored by Albina and her
family, faced serious competition from the Dona-
tists, a sect that arose during the Diocletian perse-
cutions at the end of the third century. These
successors of Christians who had willingly suffered
and even died for their faith were now a rigorist
community with their own bishops and churches.
Efforts at reconciliation with the orthodox church
were rebuffed or botched while the Donatists claim
of "purity," since only the truly righteous could
hold membership, held a strong appeal among the
poor, as did their claim of independence from any
state authority.
The Donatists were a significant force around
Carthage, but it was the orthodox bishop Alypius,
known for his knowledge of the scriptures and a
friend of the orthodox and illustrious Augustine,
bishop in nearby Hippo, who welcomed them.
They were also well received by the local popu-
lace, Donatist and orthodox alike, who viewed
them as an economic bonanza. Shortly after their
arrival, the family visited the famous Augustine.
Excited by the appearance of such a wealthy fam-
ily, locals filled the church. They raised the cry for
Augustine to ordain Pinianus and that he serve in
Hippo. Some became quite unruly and uttered
threats against the family. Violence threatened.
Augustine restrained the congregation and insisted
he would not ordain Pinianus without the man's
consent.
Pinianus had no intention of being ordained.
The matter appeared settled when he agreed that
should he change his mind and become a cleric, he
would serve in Hippo. Albina, however, was not
satisfied. During the fracas the congregation had
made clear that they wanted the family's money.
Augustine responded to Albina in a long letter.
Acknowledging that clergy, including bishops,
16
Alee
sometimes sought wealthy benefactors, he defended
the congregation, himself, and Alypius against the
accusation that all they wanted from the family
was their wealth.
The family spent approximately four years in
Tagaste, not Hippo, and Tagaste benefited. Albina
donated hangings and gold to the church under
Alypius. Her children built a brother/sister house
for religious life on their estates, in which, presum-
ably, they lived with Melania as head of the com-
munity of young women, virgins, and widows and
Pinianus in charge of the men. On the estates they
also installed two bishops, one Donatist and one
orthodox, and when they left they donated to the
church in Tagaste the whole of the estate including
buildings, workers, workshops, and artisans, all of
which was greater in area than the city.
In 417, the family left for Palestine by way of
Alexandria. They settled in Jerusalem, where they
met the ascetic and noted churchman Jerome.
Over the next years, Albina and Pinianus were
often Melanias only links with the outside world
as she lived an increasingly cloistered life. Albina
continued to faithfully serve her daughter until her
death in 43 1 . Augustine dedicated to her his book
De Gratia Christi et de Peccato Originali (On the
grace of God and original sin).
Sources
Augustine. Letter 124; 125; 126.
Palladius. The Lausiac History 62.
Brown, Peter. Augustine of Hippo: A Biography. Berkeley:
University of California Press, 1967.
Gerontius. The Life of Melania the Younger. Introduction,
Translation, and Commentary by Elizabeth A. Clark.
New York. Edward Mellon Press, 1984, passim.
James, A. H. M. The Later Roman Empire 284—602: A
Social, Economic, and Administrative Survey. 2 vols.
Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1964.
O'Donnell, James J. Augustine: A New Biography. New
York: HarperCollins, 2005.
Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire. Vol. I. Edited by
A. H. M. Jones, J. R. Martindale, and J. Morris. Cam-
bridge: Cambridge University Press, 1971. Reprinted
1992. p. 33.
Yarbrough, Anne. "Christianization in the Fourth Century:
The Example of Roman Women." Church History 45,
no. 2. (June 1976): 149-165.
(D Albucilla
(first century c.e.) Roman: Rome
alleged conspirator; convicted adulterer
Albucilla, notorious for her many lovers, divorced
her one and only husband, Satrius Secundus. In 37
c.e., Albucilla and three senators, Lucius Arrun-
tius, Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus, who was the
husband of the younger Agrippina, and Vibius
Marsus, as well as several lesser men, were accused
of adultery and treason against the emperor
Tiberius. The charges appear to have been insti-
gated by Quintus Naevius Cordus Suetonius
Macro, the prefect of the Praetorian Guard, with-
out the knowledge of the already dying emperor.
Macro presided over the questioning of witnesses
and the torture of slaves.
The Senate deliberately moved slowly reflecting
their sense that Macro had fabricated the charges
and that the emperor had not long to live. All
except Albucilla and Arruntius managed to escape
punishment. Arruntius committed suicide. Albu-
cilla, however, was not so successful. Carried into
the Senate after a failed suicide attempt, she was
convicted of adultery and died in prison.
Sources
Dio Cassius. Roman History 58.27.4.
Tacitus. Annales 6.47-48.
Bauman, Richard A. Women and Politics in Ancient Rome.
London: Routledge, 1994, pp. 116, 164.
Levick, Barbara. Tiberius the Politician. London: Thames
and Hudson, 1976, pp. 198-199.
Marsh, Frank Burr. The Reign ofTiberius. New York: Barnes
and Noble, 1931, passim.
Marshall, A. J. "Ladies at Law: The Role of Women in the
Roman Civil Courts." In Studies in Latin Literature and
Roman History, ed. by C. Deroux. Brussels, Belgium:
Latomus, 1989, p. 348.
(D Alee
(fourth century b.c.e.) Greek: Athens
self-made woman
Alee, born a slave, worked as a prostitute and suc-
ceeded in gaining freedom, respectability, and citi-
zenship for her eldest son. Working in a brothel
owned by Euctemon of Cephsia in Piraeus outside
17
Alexandra
of Athens, she cohabited with another slave, Dion,
and had two sons. After some sort of violent fracas,
Dion fled to Sicyon. Alee continued to work for
Euctemon until she became too old. He freed her,
and she took over the management of his tene-
ment in Athens.
In time, Euctemon left his wife and children
and moved in with Alee, who persuaded him to
have her eldest son by Dion recognized as his own.
Philoctemon, the eldest son of Euctemon's first
wife, objected to the boy's registration in his fathers
phratry, which was the prerequisite for citizenship
and inheritance. Euctemon threatened Philocte-
mon that he would marry again and have a second
family. Faced with the prospect of an unknown
number of future stepsisters and -brothers that
could significantly diminish his portion of the
estate, Philoctemon capitulated.
Sources
Isaeus. Speeches of Isaeus 6.18-26.
Sealey, R. "On Lawful Concubinage in Athens." Classical
Antiquity?, (1984): pp. 111-133.
Walters, K. R. "Women and Power in Classical Athens." In
Woman's Power, Man's Game: Essays on Classical Antiquity
in Honor of Joy K. King, ed. by Mary DeForest. Wauco-
nda, 111.: Bolchazy-Carducci, 1993, pp. 203-204.
Alexandra
(first century b.c.e.)
conspirator
Jewish: Judaea
Alexandra gained the support of Cleopatra VII to
oppose her son-in-law, Herod the Great, and died
in an attempt to overthrow him. She was the
daughter of John Hyrcanus II, the Hasmonaean
high priest of Judaea (63-40 b.c.e.). Her daughter,
Mariamme I, married Herod the Great after he
thwarted an invasion of Judaea by Antigonus, an
anti-Roman Hasmonaean leader.
Herod, appointed king of Judaea by Mark Ant-
ony and the Roman Senate, made an obscure Jew
from Babylonia, Hananel, high priest. Angry that
a Hasmonaean was not appointed, Alexandra
appealed to Cleopatra, who always engaged in one
or another intrigue against Herod in hope of
extending her rule over Judaea. Alexandra was suc-
cessful: Herod appointed her 17-year-old son Aris-
tobulus, high priest.
Herod had Aristobulus drowned at a bathing
party in Jericho in 36 b.c.e. Alexandra informed
Cleopatra of his murder, and Cleopatra pressed
Antony to right the wrong. However, Herod
charmed Antony, who wanted a strong ruler to
carry out his policies. Herod reappointed Hananel
high priest. Thus ended Cleopatra VII's dream of
acquiring control over Judaea.
Subsequently Herod fell ill, and Alexandra con-
spired with Herod's sons to seize control over the
fortifications of Jerusalem, enabling them to usurp
the rule of Herod. The plot failed, and Herod had
Alexandra executed in 28 b.c.e.
Sources
Josephus. Antiquitates Judaicae (Jewish Antiquities) 15.23—
27, 35-40, 53-56, 62-65, 74-76, 247-52.
Grant, Michael. The Jews in the Roman World. New York:
Charles Scribner's Sons, 1973, p. 69.
Jones, A. H. M. The Herods of Judaea. Rev. ed. Oxford:
Clarendon Press, 1967, passim.
[b] Amalasuntha
(?-535 c.e.) Goth: Italy
ruler
Amalasuntha was a Goth. She was regent for her
son and ruled Italy as a semiautonomous region of
the Roman Empire. Her mother was Ausefleda
and her father was Theodoric, leader of the Goths
who ruled Italy for 36 years as a nominal part of
the Roman Empire. Educated as a Roman, Amala-
suntha was eloquent in Greek and Latin, as well as
the spoken dialects of the Goths. Her education
reflected her father's admiration for Roman law
and administration, which he had learned as a
young man during the 10 years he spent in Con-
stantinople as a hostage to assure Goth compliance
with Roman agreements.
In 515, she was betrothed to Eutharic, a Goth
of elite lineage from Spain. Three years later she
gave birth to a son Athalaric and later a daughter
Matasuntha. The emperor Justin appointed her
husband consul in 519, which placed him in line
to succeed her father, Theodoric. Unfortunately, in
522 Eutharic died, four years before Theodoric.
18
Amalasuntha
After her father's death in 526, Amalasuntha
became regent for her underage son, Athalaric. She
followed the conciliatory policies of her father and
continued to merge Goth and Roman civil law.
She welcomed collaboration with the Senate and
restored confiscated properties to the families of
two notable senators who had been executed, the
philosophers Boethius and Symmachus. Elo-
quently, she wrote to the emperor Justin urging
that the tomb of her father should also be the
burial place of old hatreds.
For six years after assuming the regency there was
peace, even though Goths were unaccustomed to
rule by a woman. In 532, her control over her son
was challenged as too Roman and inappropriate for
a future leader of the Goths. She had no choice but
to allow her son to come under the care of a faction
who resented her pro-Roman policies. Amalasuntha
became aware of the plot against her. Although she
forestalled the plotters with military assignments
that scattered the leaders to posts on the northern
frontier, she decided to also act more forcefully.
Amalasuntha made overtures to Justinian, who
had become emperor in 527, and requested safe
refuge in Constantinople and a stopping place
along the way. He complied. She prepared for
travel to Epidamnus, on the coast of Illyria oppo-
site the heel of Italy, and, if necessary, on to Con-
stantinople. She sent a ship ahead with treasure
amounting to some twice the annual expenditures
of the Western empire and instructed the captain
not to unload but await further instructions. She
was not idle in Italy. She arranged to kill the pro-
Goth faction in the court and the army and waited
in Ravenna for the outcome. When she learned of
their deaths, she recalled the ship and its treasure.
Amalasunthas problems were far from over. Her
son was dying, and a woman alone was not an
acceptable ruler to Romans or Goths. In the East,
Justinian harbored plans to restore the glory of the
empire and regain control over Western territories
that included Italy. Her cousin Theodahad, who
was as ambitious as she offered an alternative to the
imperial power of the East and a male figurehead
for her rule in Italy. Theodahad, no respecter of the
niceties of law, had accumulated vast tracts of land
equal in size to modern Tuscany. Amalasuntha had
successfully brought suit against him in the courts
and forced him to repudiate some of his land
claims. In the flux of the moment Justinian's envoys
negotiated separately with these two very different
personalities. As an opening bid in the negotia-
tions, Theodahad offered his Tuscan properties in
return for a safe haven in Constantinople. Amala-
suntha may have offered her loyalty in the rule of
Italy. Neither, however, desired escape to the East.
In October 534, Amalasunthas son died. She
reached an agreement with Theodahad that dis-
tributed power and authority between them. It was
an alternative to the threat posed by Justinian from
the East to them both, and also established a male
figure in authority over Italy. Treachery was possi-
ble, but the threat of an invasion by Justinian was
the bulwark against which Amalasuntha gambled.
However, Amalasuntha no longer had the support
of the Goth or Roman elites. Competing factions
filled Italy with plots of ambition and revenge and
with conspiracies fed by slights, resentments, and
quarrels accumulating over years. Justinian's policy
of setting one group against another successfully
destabilized the situation.
Theodora, the Augusta, and Justinian worked
in tandem to destabilize Italy. Amalasuntha posed
no threat to Theodora. Had she delivered Italy, she
might have gained a position as ruler of a semiau-
tonomous region within the larger empire. There
has, however, been a tradition that records collu-
sion between Theodora and Theodahad's wife,
Gudelina. Possibly, Theodahad had been led to
believe that he had Justinian's agreement to rule
Italy under the suzerainty of Constantinople, if he
surrendered Sicily and removed Amalasuntha. Jus-
tinian, abetted by Theodora, may have embold-
ened Theodahad to betray Amalasuntha.
Theodahad acted. Amalasuntha was imprisoned
on an island in Lake Bolsena in Tuscany. Even
there, she posed a threat. Theodahad arranged her
assassination in April 535. Family members of the
plotters whom she had ordered assassinated three
years earlier were only too happy to comply. Jus-
tinian used Amalasuntha's murder to order an
invasion of Italy.
19
Amastris
Sources
Cassiodorus. Variae 11, 1, 6£; 8, 1-8; 9-1; 10-1.4, 19-
24; 8f.
Procopius. Gothic Wars vol. I-V. ii. 1-29; iii. 10-30; iv.
1—31.: Secret History xvi. 1, 5; xxiv. 23.
Bury, J. B. Later Roman Empire from the Death ofTheodosius
to the Death of Justinian, vol. 2. New York: Dover Publi-
cations Inc., 1958, 159-167.
Frankforter, A. Daniel. "Amalasuntha, Procopius, and a
Woman's Place." Journal of Women's History 8 (Summer
1996): 41-57.
Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire. Vol. III. Edited
by A. H. M. Jones, J. R. Martindale, and J. Mor-
ris. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1971.
Reprinted 1992, 65.
[b] Amastris
(fourth-third century b.c.e.)
Persian: Asia Minor
ruler
Amastris was a prudent regent who ruled Hera-
clea Pontica on the Black Sea after the death of
her husband. She was the daughter of Oxyartis,
the brother of the Persian king Darius III. Her
first husband, Craterus, was one of 80 Macedo-
nian officers who had married women of the Per-
sian nobility after Alexander the Great's victory at
Guagamela in 331 b.c.e. After the death of Alex-
ander, they divorced, and Amastris married Dio-
nysius, tyrant of Heraclea Pontica (337-305 b.
c.e.). She had three children: Clearchus, Oxathres,
and Amastris.
After Dionysius died, Amastris became regent.
She gained the support of Antigonus, who sought
control of Asia Minor after Alexander's death.
Later Amastris switched her allegiance to Lysima-
chus, another of Alexander's former generals, who
had become ruler of Thrace and northwest Asia
Minor. Lysimachus, who coveted her wealthy city,
offered her marriage to seal the alliance. In 302,
they married and had a son, Alexandras.
Lysimachus divorced Amastris to marry
Arsinoe II Philadelphus, the daughter of Ptol-
emy I Soter who ruled Egypt. Amastris resumed
her rule over Heraclea, which she enlarged and
established a city named after herself.
In 289, Amastris was murdered by her sons.
Her former husband, Lysimachus, avenged her
death and took control of the city of Amastris.
Sources
Arrian. Anabasis of Alexander 7-4.
Diodorus Siculus. Library of History 20.109.6—7.
Strabo. Geography. 12.3.10.
Cary, M. A History of the Greek World from 323 to 146 B.C.
London: Methuen, 1951, pp. 55, 98.
Der Kleine Pauly; Lexikon der Antike, ed. by Konrat Julius
Furchtegott and Walther Sontheimer. Stuttgart, Ger-
many: A. Druckenmuller, 1984, pp. 289-290.
Anastasia ( I )
(?-early fourth century c.e.)
political actor
Roman: Italy
Anastasia was associated with a plot to assassinate
Constantine the Great. She was Constantine's half
sister. They shared the same father, Constantius I.
Constantine's mother, however, was their father's
first wife, Helena, who had inspired her son's
adoption of Christianity in 313. Anastasia's mother
was the emperor's second wife, Flavia Maximia
Theodora.
The marriage of Anastasia's mother Flavia and
Constantius was a political arrangement. Flavia
was the daughter of the emperor Maximian, who
had appointed Constantius Caesar in the West.
Marriage with Flavia successfully situated Con-
stantius as next in line to succeed Maximian.
Constantine followed Constantius as emperor,
and Anastasia married Bassianus. Constantine
appointed him Caesar in the West, in charge of
Italy and Illyricum. Bassianus, influenced by his
brother Senechio, who supported the Western
emperor Licinius, agreed to assassinate Constan-
tine. Constantine discovered the plot and exe-
cuted Bassianus. Nothing more is known of
Anastasia.
Sources
Brill's New Pauly: Encyclopedia of the Ancient World: Clas-
sical Tradition, Vol. 1. Edited by Manfred Landfester
et al. Boston: Brill, 2002, p. 643.
20
Anastasia (3)
[a] Anastasia (2)
(?-early sixth century c.e.)
Roman: Constantinople, Jerusalem
political actor
Anastasia was among the wealthy women in Con-
stantinople whose strong religious beliefs and
imperial connections affected the politics of the
time. Like many others close to imperial power,
she died far from Constantinople.
Married to Pompeius, a nephew of the emperor
Anastasius I, who reigned between 491 and 518
c.e., she had at least one child, a son. Among her
friends was Anicia Juliana, whose lineage reached
back to Theodosius the Great, who had ruled a
century earlier between 383 to 395, and whose
husband was a general under Anastasius in his war
against the Persians. Both women were orthodox
Christians who supported the Chalcedon compro-
mise of 451 which affirmed the two natures of
Christ, human and divine, cojoined yet separate.
When the Chalcedon compromise came under
threat by Monophysites, who supported a single
divine nature of Christ, the women's friendship
became a political alliance.
The women used their connections with the
imperial establishment on behalf of visiting clergy
and played a part in the growing estrangement
between East and West. In 5 1 1 they lobbied for
Sabas, one of the founders of Eastern monasticism,
when he came to Constantinople to plead with the
emperor on behalf of the persecuted orthodox
practitioners and bishops in the East. In 518, the
emperor granted Anastasia the status olpatricia, an
honor from the emperor for service to the empire,
and in 519 she corresponded with the Roman
bishop Hermisdas in hope that her explanation of
events would contribute to healing a misunder-
standing over the actions of Acacius, the bishop of
Constantinople. The controversy had begun in
481 when Acacius, a moderate bishop, had helped
draft a letter issued by the emperor Zeno to the
Egyptian church designed to reconcile East and
West. It had the opposite effect, and the Western
church excommunicated Acacius, although he
retained his position in Constantinople.
Decades later, in January 532, there was a seri-
ous threat to the rule of Justinian. Mobs besieged
the palace. Anastasia's nephews Pompeius and
Hypatius were in the palace, and the mob raised
the cry for Hypatius to become emperor. Justinian
ordered them out. The rioters surged to Hypatius's
house, dragged him out, and proclaimed him
emperor. Senators who felt slighted or overlooked
or who hated the low-class background and visible
power of the Augusta Theodora joined the fray.
The mob, as well as the disgruntled senators,
failed to understand Theodora. She rallied her hus-
band and his supporters with an impassioned
speech that effectively ended the revolt. Pompeius
and Hypatius were executed. Justinian confiscated
the property of the two families, presumably includ-
ing that of Anastasia, although he later restored
much of it along with their honorific titles.
After the revolt, Anastasia went to Jerusalem to
live a religious life. She founded a monastery on
the Mount of Olives where she spent the rest of
her life.
Sources
Procopius. Persian Wars I, xxiv; 19-21, 53, 56-58.
Theophanus. Chronicle AM 6005.
Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire. Vol. II. Edited by
A. H. M. Jones, J. R. Martindale, and J. Morris. Cam-
bridge: Cambridge University Press, 1971. Reprinted
1992, 76-77.
[a] Anastasia (3)
(?— 576 c.e.) Roman: Constantinople, Egypt
religious woman
Anastasia was a well-born woman of religious prin-
ciple who lived in Constantinople. Her religious
vocation followed upon her efforts to escape the
attentions of the emperor Justinian and any poten-
tial conflict they would have caused with the Augusta
Theodora. From Justinian, Anastasia received the
title patricia, granted to favored persons. He encour-
aged her to live in the palace. Noted for her good
sense and faced with his attentions, Anastasia left
Constantinople for Alexandria.
She either established or joined a monastery in
the neighborhood of Ennaton, about five miles
21
Ancharia
distant from Alexandria. She supported herself by
weaving cloth, a common occupation for monastic
women of the time. After the death of Theodora in
548, Justinian or his agents attempted to find her.
She left the monastery, adopted male clothing, and
went into the desert.
She met Father Daniel, a monk who became her
mentor and protector for the remaining decades of
her life. Near Wadi Natrum, a center of monasti-
cism at the time, she entered a cave, where she
lived as an anchorite (solitary ascetic) for 28 years,
until she died in 576. During all her years in the
desert she kept her identity and sex hidden to all
except her mentor, Father Daniel.
Sources
Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire. Vol. II. Edited by
A. H. M. Jones, J. R. Martindale, and J. Morris. Cam-
bridge: Cambridge University Press, 1971. Reprinted
1992, 77.
Ancharia
(first century b.c.e.)
mother ofOctavia
Roman: Rome
Ancharia was the first wife of Gaius Octavius and
the mother of Octavia (i). Her husband came
from a wealthy equestrian family in Velitrae. After
she died, her husband married Atia (i); their only
son, Octavian, became the emperor Augustus.
Sources
Plutarch. Vitae Parallelae (Parallel Lives): Antonius 3 1 .
Suetonius. The Lives of the Caesars: Augustus 4.
Anteia
(first century c.E.)
stoic
Roman: Rome
Anteia belonged to the fourth generation of a
Roman family noted for literary and philosophical
achievements and for principled acts rooted in
honor and commitment. She, like all of her prede-
cessors, experienced the wrath of the emperors.
Anteia was the wife of Helvidius Priscus the
Younger, a well-known Stoic of his day.
When Priscus was executed by the emperor
Domitian for presenting a farce that Domitian
interpreted as criticism of his recent divorce, Anteia
remained in Rome. Her mother-in-law, Fannia
(2), and her grandmother-in-law, the younger
Arria, were exiled. After Domitian's death, Anteia
collaborated with her husbands friend Pliny the
Younger to charge Publicius Certus, whose accusa-
tions had led to her husband's death. She arranged
for Fannia and Arria to press suit jointly with Pliny
and testify. The Senate, after much debate, agreed
to let Pliny proceed with the suit. However, the
new emperor, Nerva, not wanting to rake up the
past, prevented the case from going forward.
Cornutus Tetullius spoke in the Senate on
behalf of the women. He explained that even if no
legal penalty would be exacted, Certus should be
disgraced and stripped of his honors. The women
wanted a truthful and accurate rendering of how
Publicius Certus had sought the death penalty for
Helvidius to curry favor with Domitian. They suc-
ceeded at least insofar as Certus failed to become
consul.
Anteia had three children, two of whom died in
childbirth.
Sources
Pliny the Younger. Epistulae 9.13.
Suetonius. The Lives of the Caesars: Domitian 10.
[b] Antigone
(third century b.c.e.)
Greek: Macedonia, Egypt, and Epirus
married to a ruler
Antigone married the deposed ruler of Epirus, Pyr-
rhus (319-272 b.c.e.). The marriage assured aid to
Pyrrhus from Antigone's mother, Berenice I. Ber-
enice had married her own brother, Ptolemy I
Soter, to become the second most powerful voice
in Egypt. Pyrrhus had ruled Epirus while still a
minor, but had been deposed in 302 b.c.e. and
had fled to his brother-in-law Demetrius I in
Macedonia. After having secured peace with Egypt,
Demetrius had sent Pyrrhus to Egypt to cement
friendly relations.
Married, Antigone and Pyrrhus returned to
Epirus well equipped with men and funds. Rather
than war, Pyrrhus offered to rule jointly with
22
Antistia Pollitta
Neoptolemus, the usurper. Antigone learned of a
plot by Neoptolemus to poison Pyrrhus from a
woman named Phaenarete and informed her hus-
band. Forewarned, Pyrrhus invited Neoptolemus
to dinner and killed him. Antigone had a son,
named Ptolemy after her father. Her husband built
a city and named it Berenicis in her honor.
Sources
Plutarch. Vitae Parallelae (Parallel Lives): Pyrrhus 4—6.
Antistia ( I )
(second century b.c.e.)
reformer
Roman: Rome
Antistia was the wife of the rich, arrogant, and
powerful Appius Claudius Pulcher, who was con-
sul in 143 b.c.e. and part of the reform faction
around Tiberius and Gaius Sempronius Gracchus.
She and Cornelia (2), the mother of the Grac-
chi, were contemporaries. Antistia's daughter
Claudia (2) married Tiberius. The marriage
cemented a political alliance between her husband
and son-in-law over agrarian reform. Another
daughter, Claudia (3), became a Vestal Virgin.
She used the power of her office to shield her
father from destruction, therby enabling him to
celebrate a disputed triumph for the defeat of the
Salassi in Cisalpine Gaul. Antistia was the grand-
mother, through her son, Appius Claudius Pul-
cher, consul in 79 b.c.e., of the beautiful and
infamous Clodia (2) and the brilliant, brash,
amoral Publius Clodius Pulcher.
Sources
Plutarch. Vitae Parallelae (Parallel Lives): Tiberius Gracchus
4.1-3.
Antistia (2)
(first century b.c.e.)
political victim
Roman: Rome
Antistia fell victim to an upper-class pattern of
using serial marriages to move up the social and
political ladder of power. In 86 b.c.e., her father,
Publius Antistius, had been prosecutor against
Gnaeus Pompeius (Pompey the Great) in a case of
misappropriating public funds. He was so taken
with Pompey s handling of his own defense that he
sought him out as a son-in-law. The young Antistia
and Pompey married.
In 82, Antistius was killed in the Senate on
orders of the younger Gaius Marius during the
armed conflict between the Marian forces and
Lucius Cornelius Sulla after the death of the elder
Marius. Pompey served under Sulla. Sulla, no less
impressed than Antistius had been years earlier,
persuaded Pompey to marry Aemilia (2), the
daughter of his wife Caecilia Metella (i). Pom-
pey divorced Antistia. After the divorce, Antistia
and her mother committed suicide.
Sources
Appian. Roman History: Bella civilian (Civil Wars) 1.88.
Plutarch. Vitae Parallelae (Parallel Lives): Pompeius 4.2—3;
9.1-2.
Pauly, A., G. Wissowa, and W. Kroll. Real-Encyclopadie
d. Classischen Altertumswissenschaft 1893-. (Germany:
multiple publishers) 60.
[a] Antistia Pollitta
(?-65 c.e.) Roman: Italy
political victim
Antistia Pollitta and her husband were rumored to
have plotted an overthrow of the emperor Nero.
She was the daughter of Lucius Antistius Vetus,
consul with Nero in 55 c.e. Her husband was the
wealthy and philosophically inclined Rubellius
Plautus. Both could trace their lineage to the
beginning of the empire: she to Mark Antony and
the independent-minded Octavia (2), sister of the
emperor Augustus, and he to Livia Drusilla,
Augustus's powerful wife and Augusta in her own
right.
Rumors of Rubellius Plautus's ambition were
circulated by enemies of the younger Agrippina,
Nero's mother. It was said that Agrippina planned
to remove Nero and install Plautus as emperor.
There was hope that the rumors would effect a
split between mother and son. Called upon to
defend herself, however, Agrippina convinced her
son of her unwavering allegiance. Nonetheless,
reports of Plautus as a possible alternative to Nero
did not cease. Alarmed, the emperor suggested
23
Antonia (I)
that Rubellius Plautus retire to his family estates in
Asia where he could enjoy the life of contempla-
tion. Antistia, along with a few of their friends,
accompanied her husband.
Given the situation, Antistia's father urged her
husband to take up arms against the emperor.
There was discontent on which he could capitalize,
and he was about to suffer the consequences of
treason regardless of his behavior. Plautus refused.
He had no taste for war, even though he under-
stood it was only a matter of time before Nero had
him killed. Perhaps he also hoped that if he
remained passive, Nero would spare Antistia and
their children.
In 62 c.e., Antistia stood by as a centurion
beheaded her husband and sent his head to Nero
in Rome. Thereafter, Antistia remained in mourn-
ing. In 65 Nero ordered the suicide of her father,
who had retired with Antistia to his estate in For-
miae. Antistia went to Nero in Naples to plead for
her fathers life. He refused even to receive her.
Informed that there was no hope, her father
divided his money among his slaves and ordered
them to remove all furnishings except for three
couches in one room. Antistia, Antistius Vetus,
and his mother-in-law Sextia (2) severed their
veins. Covered with a single cloth, they were car-
ried to the baths, where they died. Antistia was the
last to expire. Nero had the Senate indict them
after their death.
Sources
Tacitus. Annaks 14.22, 58-59; 16.10-11.
Marshall, A. J. "Ladies at Law: The Role of Women in the
Roman Civil Courts." In Studies in Latin Literature and
Roman History, ed. by C. Deroux. Brussels, Belgium:
Latomus, 1989, pp. 351-352.
Antonia (I)
(first century b.c.e.)
captured by pirates
Roman: Rome
Antonia suffered the dangers of sea travel in the
ancient world. She was captured by pirates. More
fortunate than many others, she was ransomed by
her father Marcus Antonius, a famous orator and
consul in 99 b.c.e., who only a year earlier had
celebrated a triumph for defeating the Cilician
pirates.
Sources
Plutarch. Vitae Parallelae (Parallel Lives): Pompeius 24.
Antonia (2)
(first century b.c.e.)
divorced wife
Roman: Rome
Antonia was divorced by Mark Antony, who
became convinced that she was having an affair
with his friend Publius Cornelius Dolabella. She
was Antonys second wife, as well as his cousin.
Antonia, the daughter of Gaius Antonius, coconsul
with Marcus Tullius Cicero in 63 b.c.e., would not
have been the only woman of the late republic to
find Dolabella a desirable lover. The third husband
of Cicero's daughter Tullia (2), he was notoriously
attractive, considered quite dissolute and, chroni-
cally short of funds, a well-known womanizer.
Antonia and Antony had a daughter, Antonia
(3), who married the wealthy Pythodorus from
Tralles.
Sources
Plutarch. Vitae Parallelae (Parallel Lives): Antonius 9 .
Antonia (3)
(c. 54/49 b.c.e.-?)
political wife
Roman: Rome and Tralles
Antonia, born between 54 and 49 b.c.e., was the
daughter of Mark Antony and his second wife
Antonia (2). It was intended that their daughter
marry Marcus Aemilius Lepidus, the son of a fel-
low triumvir. However, as her father's alliance with
Cleopatra VII focused his political ambitions in
the East, an alliance became Antonia and
Pythodorus of Tralles, a wealthy commercial city
in Asia Minor, became more desirable. They mar-
ried in 34 b.c.e.
Antonia and Pythodorus had a daughter,
Pythodoris, who married the ruler of Pontus,
Polemon, and later Archelaus, who ruled Cappa-
docia. Antonia died quite young, but her daughter
ruled Pontus during the reign of Augustus.
24
Antonia the Elder
Sources
Macurdy, Grace. Hellenistic Queens. Reprint. Chicago: Ares
Publishers, 1985, pp. 10-11.
Oxford Classical Dictionary, ed. by Simon Hornblower and
Antony Spawforth. 3d. ed. New York: Oxford Univer-
sity Press, 1996, p. 113.
Pauly, A., G. Wissowa, and W. Kroll. Real-Encyclopadie
d. Classischen Altertumswissenschaft 1893— (Germany:
multiple publishers) 113.
[a] Antonia (4)
(28 -66 c.e.) Roman: Rome
political player; possible conspirator
Antonia, born in 28 C.E., was the only child of the
emperor Claudius and his second wife Aelia Pae-
tina. Her position as the emperor's daughter
opened the possibility of succession for her hus-
bands. She could become the emperor's wife, if she
survived.
Antonia married Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus,
the son of Marcus Licinius Crassus Frugi, consul
in 27 c.e., and Scribonia, about whom we only
know her name. Antonia's husband belonged to
the group of powerful aristocrats who opposed
Claudius's wife Valeria Messallina. By virtue of
his own lineage cojoined with that of Antonia,
Pompeius became a serious contender to succeed
Claudius and challenged the primacy of Messalli-
na's son, Britannicus, as the most favored heir. By
46 or early 47, Messallina convinced Claudius that
Pompeius was dangerous. Both he and his parents
were killed.
The widowed Antonia married Faustus Corne-
lius Sulla Felix, the lethargic half brother of Mes-
sallina, who posed no threat to the latter's
ambitions. Sulla and Antonia outlived both Mes-
sallina and Claudius and for a time flourished.
Sulla became consul in 52. However, in 58 he was
banished and later killed by the emperor Nero.
In 66, Antonia was herself killed. Possibly she
was a participant in the Pisonian conspiracy (65
c.e.) against Nero. Gaius Calpurnius Piso, the
ineffectual figurehead of the conspiracy, suppos-
edly promised to divorce his wife and marry Anto-
nia after Nero's assassination. They were to meet in
the temple of Ceres on the day of the planned
assassination and proceed to the camp of the Prae-
torian Guard where Piso would be proclaimed
emperor. The marriage would have clothed Piso in
Antonia's lineage, and she would at last become the
wife of an emperor.
Perhaps, however, she did not seek the role of
emperor's wife and was not even among the con-
spirators. After Nero caused the death of his wife
Poppaea Sabina (2), he was said to have asked
Antonia to marry him in an effort to repair his
damaged reputation. Only after she refused did he
order her death.
Sources
Suetonius. The Lives of the Caesars: Claudius 27.1—2.
. The Lives of the Caesars: Nero 35.4.
Tacitus. Annales 13.23, 47; 14.57; 15.53.
Balsdon, J. P. V. D. Roman Women. New York: John Day
Comp., 1963, p. 123.
Bauman, Richard A. Women and Politics in Ancient Rome.
London: Routledge, 1994, p. 172.
Oxford Classical Dictionary, ed. by Simon Hornblower and
Antony Spawforth. 3d. ed. New York: Oxford Univer-
sity Press, 1996, p. 113.
Pauly, A., G. Wissowa, and W. Kroll. Real-Encyclopadie
d. Classischen Altertumswissenschaft 1893— (Germany:
multiple publishers) 115.
Syme, Ronald. The Augustan Aristocracy. Oxford: Claren-
don Press, 1986, passim.
[a] Antonia the Elder
(39 b.c.e.— ?) Roman: Rome
political player
Antonia, elder daughter of Mark Antony and the
independent-minded Octavia (2), sister of the
emperor Augustus, grew up in a household filled
with children from her parents' multiple marriages.
Her parents had married to cement the Pact of
Brundisium in 40 b.c.e. that established a Roman
state divided between her father and her uncle.
The pact failed, leading to a renewal of civil war
that pitted Roman against Roman and left many
children of the senatorial class orphans and with-
out clear claim or access to family or wealth.
Antonia was born in 39 b.c.e., when her par-
ents were in Greece negotiating with her uncle
Octavian. He sought Antony's aid in a campaign
25
Antonia the Younger
against Sextus Pompeius Magnus, the son of
Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus (Pompey the Great)
and leader of the remaining republican forces.
After her parents' divorce in 32, Antonia and her
younger sister Antonia stayed with their mother
in a household that also included the three chil-
dren from Octavia's previous marriage to Gaius
Claudius Marcellus, an opponent of Caesar and
supporter of Pompey, who had died in 40 b.c.e.
After Antony's defeat at Actium in 3 1 , and his sub-
sequent suicide in 30, Octavia's household grew to
include the son of Antony's deceased wife, Fulvia
(2), and the son and daughter of Antony and
Cleopatra VII.
Antonia married Lucius Domitius Ahenobar-
bus, to whom she had been affianced since about
24 b.c.e. Ahenobarbus, of an old republican fam-
ily, has been characterized, like many of his ances-
tors, as arrogant, cruel, addicted to chariot racing,
and rich. He held the consulship in 16 b.c.e. and
died in old age in 25 c.e.
It was Antonia's only marriage. She had three
children, all of whom took a place in the politics of
their time: Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus, consul
in 32 c.e. and father of the future emperor Nero;
and two forceful women, Domitia, wife of Gaius
Sallustius Crispus Passienus, and Domitia Lepida,
the mother of Valeria Messallina.
Sources
Oxford Classical Dictionary, ed. by Simon Hornblower and
Antony Spawforth. 3d. ed. New York: Oxford Univer-
sity Press, 1996, p. 113.
Pauly, A., G. Wissowa, and W. Kroll. Real-Encyclopadie
d. Classischen Altertumswissenschaft 1893— (Germany:
multiple publishers) 113.
Syme, R. Augustan Aristocracy. Oxford: Clarendon Press,
1986, passim.
[b] Antonia the Younger
(January 31, 36 B.c.E.-May 1, 37
c.e.) Roman: Italy
Augusta; power broker
Antonia was an enigmatic woman who made diffi-
cult, and sometimes even inexplicable, life choices.
In many ways Antonia epitomized the ideal Roman
matrona. She was a woman of strong character and
impeccable morality; she was intelligent and mar-
ried only once. Twice she was named Augusta. She
refused the title offered by her grandson Gaius
Caligula when he became emperor 37 c.e. After
her death the title was again bestowed, this time by
her son, the emperor Claudius.
Antonia was the younger daughter of Octavia
(2) and niece of Augustus. She was born January
31, 36 b.c.e., when her father, Mark Antony, was
in Egypt with Cleopatra VII. After the civil war
and Antony's death in 30, Antonia lived in her
mother's household with the children of her par-
ents' multiple marriages, including those of her
father and Cleopatra.
Antonia married Nero Claudius Drusus, the
son of LrviA Drusilla, and the stepson of the
emperor Augustus, in 16. Drusus was a popular
young leader, and his marriage with Antonia made
him a likely successor to Augustus. After Drusus's
unexpected death while campaigning in Germany
in 9 b.c.e., Antonia remained a widow despite her
youth and the urging of Augustus to remarry. She
lived with Livia who helped raise her children:
Germanicus Julius Caesar, Livia Julia Claudia Liv-
illa, and Claudius, the future emperor.
Her eldest son Germanicus became as popular
as had been his father and married the elder Agrip-
pina, a granddaughter of Augustus. By then,
Tiberius, Antonia's brother-in-law, was emperor.
Germanicus, who was the most likely heir to
Tiberius, died as had his father before him, cam-
paigning in Germany. Agrippina brought his ashes
back to Rome convinced that Tiberius had arranged
her husband's death. Inexplicably, Antonia made
no appearance at the public honors for her dead
son. Nor did Tiberius or Livia. Their absence fed
rumors of conspiracy.
Antonia's daughter Livilla married Drusus Julius
Caesar, the son of Tiberius and his first wife, Vip-
sania Agrippina, in 4 c.e. Livilla and Drusus had
a daughter, Julia (8), and twin sons, Germanicus
and Tiberius Gemellus. Antonia's daughter was
later widowed and left with a grown daughter and
one living son, Tiberius Gemellus.
26
Antonia the Younger
v><
fissk
Antonia the Younger and her son Claudius
(For Antonia the Younger: Date: 41 C.E.-45 C.E. 1001. 1. 22213, Archives, American Numismatic Society.
For Claudius: Date: 51 C.E.-52 C.E. 1001. 1. 30042, Archives, American Numismatic Society)
Antonia watched the struggle that developed
between her widowed daughter, Livilla, and her
widowed daughter-in-law, Agrippina, as each com-
peted to secure her own son as successor to Tiberius.
They became the center of factions that gave no
quarter. Agrippina surrounded herself with an elite
circle of the Senate, and Livilla joined forces with
her lover, Lucius Aelius Sejanus, the prefect of the
Praetorian Guard and the most powerful man in
Rome in the years after the departure of Emperor
Tiberius for Capri. Antonia stepped in when catas-
trophe occurred.
Agrippina was forced into exile and suicide.
Two of her grandsons, Nero Julius Caesar and
Drusus Julius Caesar, died; the former was exe-
cuted, and the latter starved himself to death
while imprisoned. Antonia took the three remain-
ing children of Germanicus and Agrippina — the
future emperor Gaius Caligula and his sisters,
Julia Drusilla (i) and Julia Livilla — into her
household.
Certainly Antonia must have been affected by
the exile of her daughter-in-law and the death of
her two grandsons. She must also have known of
her daughter's alliance with Sejanus and the harm
that would befall her if he fell from power. None-
theless, Antonia arranged to smuggle a letter to
Tiberius in Capri, accusing Sejanus of unknown
charges that may have led to his arrest and death
by strangulation. Tiberius placed Livilla in the cus-
tody of Antonia, and she witnessed Livilla's suicide
by starvation.
Although both her daughter and daughter-in-
law were dead, her son Claudius and grandson
Gaius Caligula lived, and Antonia remained a sig-
nificant person of influence and wealth. She sup-
ported the political career of Lucius Vitellius who
came from an equestrian background, gained
power in the reign of her grandson Gaius Caligula,
and was consul three times. She also fostered the
career of the future emperor Tiberius Flavius
Vespasian.
Antonia maintained extensive connections in
the East and owned a great deal of property in
Egypt. Berenice (i), the daughter of Salome and
niece of Herod the Great, was one of her clients
and friends. Berenice and her young son, Marcus
Julius Agrippa, lived in Rome during the reign of
27
Antonia Tryphaena
Tiberius, and Agrippa stayed in Antonias house-
hold for a few years. Later Antonia came to his aid
and lent him 300,000 drachmas to pay a debt
owed to the imperial treasury.
Antonia died on May 1 in 37 c.e., only months
after her grandson became emperor. It was just as
well. Caligula's behavior became increasingly
bizarre, and in 38 he ordered the execution of
Antonias grandson, Tiberius Gemellus. Rumors
spread that he had driven Antonia to commit sui-
cide by his ill-treatment or that he had had her
poisoned.
Sources
Dio Cassius. Roman History 58.3.9.
Josephus. Antiquitates Judaic ae (Jewish Antiquities) 18.156,
161-67, 181 ff., 204, 237.
Suetonius. The Lives of the Caesars: Gaius Caligula 1.1;
10.1; 15.2; 23.2; 24.1.
. The Lives of the Caesars: Claudius 1.6; 3.2; 4.1—4;
11.2.
Tacitus. Annates 2.43, 84; 3.3; 4.3; 10, 12, 39-41.
Balsdon, J. P. V. D. Roman Women. New York: John Day
Comp., 1963, passim.
Bauman, Richard A. Women and Politics in Ancient Rome.
London: Routledge, 1994, pp. 138-139.
Ferrill, A. Caligula: Emperor of Rome. London: Thames and
Hudson, 1 99 1 , passim.
Leon, Harry J. The Jews of Ancient Rome. Philadelphia: Jew-
ish Publication Society of America, 1960, p. 20.
Levick, Barbara. Claudius: The Corruption of Power. New
Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 1993, passim.
. Tiberius the Politician. London: Thames and Hud-
son, 1976, passim.
Marsh, Frank Burr. The Reign ofTiberius. New York: Barnes
and Noble, 1931, passim.
Oxford Classical Dictionary, ed. by Simon Hornblower and
Antony Spawforth. 3d. ed. New York: Oxford Univer-
sity Press, 1996, p. 113.
Pauly, A., G. Wissowa, and W. Kroll. Real-Encyclopadie
d. Classischen Altertumswissenschafi 1893— (Germany:
multiple publishers) 114.
[b] Antonia Tryphaena
(first century c.e.) Roman: Asia Minor
ruler
Antonia Tryphaena was the daughter of Pythodo-
ris and Polemon I of Pontus, a kingdom in north-
western AsiaMinor; she was the great-granddaughter
of Mark Antony and his second wife, Antonia
(2). Antonia Tryphaena married Cotys, the ruler of
Thrace.
When Cotys was murdered, Antonia accused
his uncle Rhascuporis of committing the crime in
order to annex her husbands territory. Antonia
gave testimony at the trial held before the Roman
Senate in 18 c.e. Rhascuporis was found guilty
and banished.
Antonia left her three sons in Rome to be raised
with the future emperor Gaius Caligula, and she
went to Cyzicus on the island of Arctonnesus in
the Black Sea. Very wealthy she used her money to
pay for civic improvements including dredging the
channel between the city and the mainland. She
also became a priestess of Livia Drusilla in whose
household in Rome resided her children.
After her father died, Antonia returned to Pon-
tus and ruled as guardian and regent for her son
Polemon II. Her head and name appeared on the
obverse of coins in accord with Pontus's status as a
client kingdom of Rome.
Sources
Tacitus. Annales 2.64—67.
Macurdy, Grace. Hellenistic Queens. Reprint. Chicago: Ares
Publishers, 1985, pp. 10-11.
Magie, David. Roman Rule in Asia Minor, to the End of
the Third Century afier Christ. 2 vols. Princeton, N.J.:
Princeton University Press, 1950, p. 513.
Marshall, A. J. "Ladies at Law: The Role of Women in the
Roman Civil Courts." In Studies in Latin Literature and
Roman History, ed. by C. Deroux. Brussels, Belgium:
Latomus, 1989, p. 355.
Antonina
(?-sixth century c.e.)
political actor
Roman: Constantinople
Antonina was clever, and she possessed outstand-
ing organizing abilities that furthered her hus-
band's military campaigns and enhanced their
accumulation of personal wealth. Her husband,
Belisarius, was Justinian's leading general and she
was an ally, possibly a confidant, and, on occasion,
an adversary of the Augusta Theodora.
28
Antonina
The two couples, Antonina and Belisarius and
Theodora and Justinian, made a formidable four-
some whose impact shaped the empire during its
last reach for territorial imperium. Antoninas grand-
father and father were charioteers; her mother was
an actress, which Romans not only considered
declasse, but synonymous with promiscuity and,
especially for women, prostitution. Like Theodora,
Antoninas early life probably included a number of
liaisons, some of them resulting in children. A son
Photius is known. She also had a daughter Joannina
who was born after Antonina married Belisarius.
Belisarius was a Goth, born in the Balkans
somewhere between Thrace and Illyria. He became
a military bodyguard under the reign of Justin,
Justinian's predecessor. Belisarius and Antonina
encountered the same legal barrier as Justinian and
Theodora over forming a contractual marriage. A
law enacted under Constantine the Great in the
fourth century forbade a marriage contract between
a man of senatorial rank and an actress. Since mar-
riage contracts were prenuptial arrangements of
property and inheritance was a major means for
gaining new wealth, older men were vulnerable,
and families needed legal protection against hasty
marriages and lost fortunes. Justin, in his waning
days, lifted the ban for whomsoever the emperor
chose. He had waited until after the death of his
wife Euphemia (i), who was herself not well born
but who adopted the prejudices of the society to
which she gained admission.
Antonina accompanied Belisarius on his mili-
tary campaigns. She was his closest confident,
gifted strategist, and skillful organizer. It was
reported that in 533, on a longer-than-expected
voyage to Africa, when the lack of wind resulted in
a 16-day trip to Sicily, the water carried by the fleet
spoiled, except on Belisarius's ship. Antonina had
had the foresight to store the water in glass jars and
bury them in sand in the dark ship's hold to retard
the growth of mold.
Antonina was with Belisarius during the siege of
Rome three years later. In Naples she worked with
her husband's secretary Procopius to assemble a
fleet loaded with grain and soldiers for delivery to
Rome through Ostia, its port city. The final lap of
the trip proved particularly difficult. Not only were
the oxen that were to pull the barges up the shallow
Tiber to Rome exhausted, but the road along one
side of the river was held by the enemy and the
other was too narrow for the animals.
Antonina and the fleet commanders evolved a
scheme. They outfitted small boats with fences
made of planks to create a holding area for the
grain. After loading the grain, archers and sailors
boarded. The small boats were able to navigate the
river and when the wind failed, the sailors rowed.
On the narrow road, another part of the army
marched parallel with the flotilla to protect it.
Grain and troops arrived safely in Rome.
Antonina remained in Italy until 540 and
returned to Constantinople with her husband. She
received the title of patricia for service to the
empire. She also formed a relationship with Theo-
dora, possibly based less on friendship than mutual
service. In 536, at the request of Theodora, Anto-
nina and her husband had worked to depose the
Roman bishop Silverius who had recently assumed
office and refused to reinstate Anthemius, a Mono-
physite, as bishop of Constantinople. The time was
rife with controversy over the nature of Christ, and
the Monophysites, who supported the single divine
nature of Christ, counted Theodora among their
most steadfast allies. Their candidate had been
Vigilius and they looked to Theodora and her con-
nections to reverse their defeat.
The women also shared a concern over John the
Cappadocian, Praetorian Prefect in the East and
second in power only to the emperor. A man with-
out education or manners, he had a genius for effi-
ciently collecting revenue by whatever means
necessary to finance Justinian's wars and building
programs. Theodora hated his influence and Anto-
nina feared a rival to her husband. In 541, the two
women initiated a complicated intrigue. Antonina
sought to gain the trust of Euphemia (2), the
young daughter of John who he adored. Antonina
used their newfound intimacy to share informa-
tion about her husband's dissatisfaction with the
emperor Justinian. Euphemia responded, probing
Antonina for details. As Antonina and Theodora
had anticipated, Euphemia took the intelligence to
29
Antye
her father. Through Euphemia, John arranged a
midnight meeting beneath the city wall in April or
May 541. Theodora arranged for a group of loyal-
ists to overhear the seditious intent and inform
Justinian. John lost his position and was eventually
exiled, stripped of his wealth, and imprisoned.
Antonina found support from Theodora at a
critical point in her life. When she was about 60
years old, Antonina became passionately attached
to a young man named Theodosius, who her hus-
band had adopted as a son. Her passion far exceeded
her discretion and she, who had maintained a work-
ing relationship with her husband for many years
whatever the amatory pursuits of either, forced a
public confrontation. Her husband behaved as
expected and threatened Theodosius with death.
Theodora hid the young lover and, moreover,
arranged for Antonina to continue the liaison.
Theodora also fostered the relationship between
Antonina and her husband. After Antonina and
Belisarius quarreled in 543, Justinian relieved
Belisarius of his command and demanded that he
deposit in government accounts the very consider-
able personal wealth he had accumulated as a result
of his military campaigns in the East. Justinian and
Theodora, always pressed for funds to finance their
reign, had long resented the vast fortune that
Belisarius had accumulated during his military
career. Justinian and Theodora also refused to see
him when he came to the palace. Theodora
informed him, however, that his command and
money would be restored if he mended relations
with Antonina, and so he did. However, Justinian
also ordered him to finance his next campaign at
his own expense.
Nor was that the only effort to gain Belisarius
and Antonina's fortune. Photius severed his rela-
tionship with his mother over her liaison with The-
odosius, and Joannina became sole heir to their
immense fortune. Theodora sought to marry Joan-
nina to Anastasius, one of her three grandsons,
who were the children of her daughter, born before
her marriage with Justinian. The boy may have
been the son of Anastasius, the brother of the for-
mer emperor Anastasius, and a quite suitable part-
ner for Antonina's daughter. Antonina, however,
opposed the match and, with the agreement of her
husband, delayed it rather than openly confront
Theodora, although the reasons for the opposition
have never been clear. Not to be outmaneuvered,
Theodora moved the two young people into the
palace where they lived together. They were said to
also have fallen in love and when Joannina reached
marriageable age, they wed.
Antonina again accompanied Belisarius to Italy
in the summer of 544 when Rome was under siege
by the Ostrogoths. She remained in Italy for the
next four years, during a series of inconclusive
campaigns plagued by insufficient troops and sup-
plies. In 548, Belisarius sent her to Constantinople
to implore Theodora to send him reinforcements,
but she found that Theodora had died. Less than a
year after the death of Theodora, in the early part
of 549, Antonina removed Joannina from the pal-
ace and separated her from her husband. Her rea-
sons have remained elusive.
Antonina outlived her husband and Justinian,
both of whom died in 565. Last heard of, in her
80s, she was living with Vigilantia, the sister of
Justinian.
Sources
Procopius. Gothic Wars. V. v. 5, xviii. 18, 43; VI. iv. 6, 14,
20; vii. 4 ff, 15; VII. xix, 7, 30; xxviii. 4; xxx. 2, 3, 26.
. Persian Wars. I. xxv. 13 ff, 23.
. Secret History, i. 16, 17, 25-29, 31, 34-36, 38-39,
42; ii. 1-5, 14, 16-17; iii. 2, 4, 7, 12, 15-18; iv. 18-19,
23, 38; v. 14, 20, 23-24, 27, 33.
dal Wars. Ill xii. 2; xiii. 23-24; xix 1 1; xx. 1.
Bury, J. B. Later History of the Roman Empire from the Death
ofTheodosisus to the Death of Justinian. Vol. II, 233—242,
247-249. New York: Dover Publications, 1938.
Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire. Vol. III. Edited by
A. H. M. Jones, J. R. Martindale, and J. Morris. Cam-
bridge: Cambridge University Press, 1971. Reprinted
1992, pp. 91-93.
[a] Antye
(third century b.c.e.) Greek: Tegea
poet
Antye was a well-known and well-respected poet of
the third century b.c.e. Born in Tegea, a city on
the southern Greek peninsula, she was said to have
30
Apama (2)
written in the traditional form and to have mir-
rored Homer in her grammar and sentence struc-
ture. However, she was attracted to the bucolic
themes that were characteristic of the emerging
traditions of the period after the death of Alexan-
der the Great.
Although Antyes lyric poems have been lost, 19
Doric epigrams are extant. They are grave in tone
and restrained in style. Her quatrains, possibly
used as funerary inscriptions, are sensitive without
being sentimental.
Sources
Lyra Graeca, v. 2, p. 241.
Der Kleine Pauly; Lexikon der Antike, ed. by Konrat Julius
Furchtegott and Walther Sontheimer. Stuttgart, Ger-
many: A. Druckenmuller, 1984, p. 417.
Fantham, Elaine, et al. Women in the Classical World. New
York: Oxford University Press, 1994, p. 166.
Geoghegan, D. Antye: A Critical Edition with Commentary.
Rome: Edizioni dell-Ateneo & Bizzarri, 1979, passim.
Gow, Andrew S. E, and Denys L. Page. The Greek Anthol-
ogy: Hellenistic Epigrams. 2 vols. Cambridge, England:
Cambridge University Press, 1965, pp. 89 ff.
Oxford Classical Dictionary, ed. by Simon Hornblower and
Antony Spawforth. 3d. ed. New York: Oxford Univer-
sity Press, 1996, p. 78.
[a] Apama (I)
(fourth-third century b.c.e.)
Persian: Persia and Antioch
progenitor ofSeleucid dynasty
Apama was the ancestor of the Seleucids, who
ruled over portions of Asia for some 250 years. Her
father, the Bactrian Spitamenes, organized a seri-
ous revolt in Sogdiana against Alexander the Great.
Defeated in 328 b.c.e., he fled into the territory of
his allies, the Messagetae. They cut off his head and
sent it to Alexander as a token of submission.
Apama, however, survived and became one of
the 80 elite Persian women married to Alexanders
Macedonian officers at Susa in 324 in an effort to
erase the distinction between the conquered and
conqueror. Her husband, Seleucus I, was com-
mander of the Silver Shields, which guarded the
right flank of Alexander's army. After Alexander s
death, Seleucus and Apama were the only couple
not to divorce.
Seleucus conquered Babylon, Media, and Susi-
ana to establish the Seleucid Empire. He named a
number of cities after Apama. In 298, for strategic
reasons, he also married the much younger Stra-
tonice (2), the daughter of Demetrius I, ruler of
Macedonia. According to the ancient sources,
Apama's son Antiochus I fell in love with Stra-
tonice. Apama regained her former position in
293, when her husband allowed her son and Stra-
tonice to marry.
Seleucus may have decided that he could no
longer govern his eastern provinces from Antioch.
He made Antiochus his partner and as coruler,
sent him with Stratonice to govern the eastern ter-
ritories. Antiochus I eventually succeeded his father
and with Stratonice secured a dynasty that ruled
parts of Asia Minor for over two centuries.
Sources
Appian. Syrian Wars 59—62.
Plutarch. Vitae Parallelae (Parallel Lives): Demetrius 38.
Cary, M. A History of the Greek World from 323 to 146 B.C.
London: Methuen, 1951, pp. 43, 54.
Macurdy, Grace. Hellenistic Queens. Reprint. Chicago: Ares
Publishers, 1985.
Oxford Classical Dictionary, ed. by Simon Hornblower and
Antony Spawforth. 3d. ed. New York: Oxford Univer-
sity Press, 1996, p. 118.
Apama (2)
(third century b.c.e.)
ruler
Greek: Cyrene
Apama ruled Cyrene, in North Africa, after the
death of her husband. She was overthrown by her
daughter. Apama was the daughter of Stratonice
(2) and Antiochus I, ruler of the Seleucid Empire
in Asia. In 275 b.c.e., she married Magas, the ruler
of Cyrene and the stepbrother of Ptolemy II Phila-
delphus of Egypt. She had a daughter, Berenice II
of Cyrene, whom her husband affianced to the
future Ptolemy III to secure a union of Egypt and
Cyrene. Magas died in 258, and Apama became
the ruler of Cyrene. Antigonus Gonatus, ruler of
Macedonia and an enemy of Egypt, sent his half
brother, the handsome Demetrius, to make an
offer of marriage to Berenice and to foil a union
with Egypt.
31
Apega
Apama welcomed Demetrius. She favored the
house of the Seleucids from which she came,
against a union with Egypt which was generally
opposed also by the independent-minded Cyreni-
cians. There is some confusion as to whether
Apama married Demetrius or became his lover
after he married her daughter. In any case, Ber-
enice, afraid of losing power, led a rebellion in
which Demetrius was killed in Apama's bedroom
as she tried to shield him with her body.
Apama's life was spared by her daughter, and
nothing further is known about her.
Sources
Justin. Epitome 26.3.
Cary, M. A History of the Greek World from 323 to 146 B.C.
London: Methuen, 1951, pp. 84, 138.
Macurdy, Grace. Hellenistic Queens. Reprint. Chicago: Ares
Publishers, 1985, pp. 131 ff.
Sources
Polybius. Histories 13.6-7; 18.17.
Apega
(third-second century b.c.e.)
political player
Greek: Sparta
Apega was collaborator, supporter, and agent for
the reform policies of her husband, Nab is, ruler of
Sparta (207-192 b.c.e.). Nabis canceled debts,
redistributed property, and extended citizenship to
select indigenous and foreign residents. Apega
traveled to Argos to collect gold jewelry and cloth
from women to provide funds to support her hus-
band's reforms.
The opposition accused Nabis of prosecuting
the wealthy and confiscating land. They also
charged Nabis with seizing their wives for the plea-
sure of his supporters and mercenaries. A curious
tale that suggests the determination of Nabis, and
perhaps Apega, to extract wealth from the rich has
survived. Nabis supposedly constructed a replica of
Apega. With the replica at his side, he summoned
wealthy men and asked for contributions. Any who
refused were required to take the hand of the rep-
lica, whose clothing concealed sharp nails. Using a
spring mechanism, the replica embraced the recal-
citrant donors and drove nails into their flesh. Con-
tributions were usually forthcoming and those who
refused were killed by the replica of Apega.
Apicata
(first century c.e.)
avenger
Roman: Rome
Apicata took revenge on her husband and his lover.
Her lineage is unknown. Her husband was the
infamous Lucius Aelius Sejanus, prefect of the
Praetorian Guard and confidant to the emperor
Tiberius. After Tiberius went to Capri in 27 c.e.,
Sejanus became the main conduit for information
to the emperor and consequently the most power-
ful man in the city.
Sejanus collected a discontented faction around
him and divorced Apicata when it appeared possi-
ble that he might marry his lover and coconspira-
tor, Livia Julia Claudia Livilla, the widowed
daughter-in-law and niece of Tiberius. In October
of 31, however, Sejanus fell out of favor and was
charged with crimes sufficiently heinous to cause
his immediate execution. Apicata's eldest son
Strabo was killed six days later, and Apicata com-
mitted suicide the next week. The two younger
children, Aelia Iunilla and Capito Aelianus, were
strangled in December on orders of the Senate so
that Sejanus might leave no heirs.
Before her death, Apicata extracted revenge.
She sent a letter to Tiberius accusing her husband
and Livilla of poisoning Livilla's husband, Drusus
Julius Caesar, eight years earlier in 23. Drusus had
been Tiberius's son. His death was a critical turn-
ing point in Tiberius's life now compounded by
the discovery of the conspiracy led by Sejanus in
whom he had placed his trust. He took the accusa-
tion seriously enough to extract a confirmation of
the murder in confessions gathered under torture
from Livilla's doctor and a slave even though it was
already some eight years after the event.
Sources
Dio Cassius. Roman History 58.11.5—7.
Tacitus. Annales 4.3.
Bauman, Richard A. Women and Politics in Ancient Rome.
London: Routledge, 1994, p. 147.
32
Arcadia
Levick, Barbara. Tiberius the Politician. London: Thames
and Hudson, 1976, pp. 161, 201, 274; notes 71, 72.
Syme, Ronald. Tacitus. 2 vols. Oxford: Clarendon Press,
1958, p. 402.
[b] AppuleiaVarilla
(first century B.c.E.-first century c.e.)
Roman: Rome
convicted adulterer
Appuleia Varilla was indicted on charges of trea-
son and adultery in 17 c.e. She was one of several
people also accused of slander against the emperor.
Her father was Sextus Appuleius, consul in 29
b.c.e. and proconsul of Asia; her mother was
Quinctilla, a niece of Octavia (i), the half sister
of Augustus. The name of Appuleia's husband is
unknown. The name of her lover, however, was
Manlius.
Appuleia was accused of defaming the new
emperor Tiberius and his mother Livia Drusilla
as well as Augustus, only recently deified after his
death two years earlier in 15 c.e. Tiberius
informed the Senate that neither he nor his
mother wished to pursue the charges of slander or
treason. The apparently less frivolous charge of
adultery stood. If convicted Appuleia could have
lost half her dowry and a third of her property,
and could also have been banished. Tiberius,
however, suggested that she simply be handed
over to her family and be removed at least 200
milestones from Rome. Her lover was banned
from living in Italy or Africa.
Sources
Tacitus. Annales 2.50.
Levick, Barbara. Tiberius the Politician. London: Thames
and Hudson, 1976, p. 197.
Marsh, Frank Burr. The Reign ofTiberius. New York: Barnes
and Noble, 1 93 1 , passim.
Marshall, A. J. "Women on Trial before the Roman Sen-
ate." Classical Views 34 (1990): 333-366, p. 342.
Pauly, A., G. Wissowa, and W. Kroll. Real-Encyclopadie
d. Classischen Altertumswissenschaft 1893— (Germany:
multiple publishers) 33.
Syme, Ronald. The Augustan Aristocracy. Oxford: Claren-
don Press, 1986, passim.
Apronia
(first century c.e.)
murder victim
Roman: Rome
Apronia was probably murdered by her husband,
the praetor Plautius Silvanus, sometime in 24 c.e.
for unknown reasons. She died by falling or being
thrown out of a window in her husband's house.
Her father Lucius Apronius, who had been a legate
to the emperor's adopted son Germanicus Julius
Caesar, quickly brought Silvanus up on charges
before the emperor Tiberius. Silvanus claimed that
Apronia must have committed suicide. He had
been fast asleep at the crucial time, and moreover,
he suffered from spells inflicted upon him by his
long-divorced first wife, Fabia Numantina, whom
he was in the process of suing.
Tiberius visited the scene of the crime. He
examined the room and window where the event
had occurred and found evidence that Apronia had
been forcefully ejected. He referred the case to the
Senate. Before the case was heard, Urgulania, the
grandmother of Silvanus and a close friend of
Livia Drusilla, the mother ofTiberius, sent Sil-
vanus a dagger. Urgulania, a formidable woman
whose arrogance was backed by her influence, left
Silvanus little choice. After a fruitless attempt at
suicide, Silvanus arranged for someone to open his
arteries. With his death the charges against his first
wife were dismissed.
Sources
Tacitus. Annales 4.22.
Pauly, A., G. Wissowa, and W. Kroll. Real-Encyclopadie
d. Classischen Altertumswissenschaft 1893-. (Germany:
multiple publishers) 10.
[a] Arcadia
(400^44 c.e.) Roman: Constantinople
political actor and celibate Christian
Arcadia was one of three young women, all daugh-
ters of Augusta Aelia Eudoxia and her husband,
the Eastern emperor Arcadius, who swore to
remain virgins and serve Christ. Led by their older
sister, Pulcheria, Arcadia and Marina took a vow
that freed them from unwanted offers of marriage
33
Archidamia
and pressure to marry and also limited the circle
that dominated their brother the emperor Theodo-
sius II, during his long reign from 408—450.
Arcadia's mother died in the autumn of 404 and
her father four years later in the spring of 408
when her brother, Theodosius II, was only seven
years old. Anthemius, an elderly Praetorian Prefect
of the East, assumed the regency. The education of
Arcadia and her siblings was in the hands of a
young eunuch Antiochus, who also supervised the
imperial household.
When Pulcheria was 14 in 413, she assumed
control. Leading Arcadia and Marina in a public
display, she declared their dedication to virginity
and their brother's rule. Their oath, inscribed on
the altar in the Great Church in Constantinople,
eliminated the possibility that one of them would
marry and introduce into the family a husband
and new kin that might include a rival to their
brother. It also established their place in the reli-
gious politics that dominated the day. As virgins
above reproach, they aligned with Mary, Mother of
God, and claimed a voice in the church.
In July 414, Pulcheria became Augusta and
regent for her brother. She set a somber atmo-
sphere in the household. Arcadia, Marina, and the
young emperor fasted twice a week, prayed, and
read from the scriptures. Their version of a virtu-
ous life contrasted with the more robust lifestyle of
their mother, who had enjoyed the pleasures of
food and clothing. It also echoed the rhetorical
ideals of the republic and early empire. Not only
did they dress modestly and eschew cosmetics, but
they spent time weaving. In this deeply Christian
environment, they also provided aid for the poor
and sick and sheltered the homeless.
Arcadia and Marina were devoted to Pulcheria
and followed her lead in both religion and politics.
Orthodox Christians, they held to the belief that
Christ was of two natures, divine and human,
cojoined yet separate. They fervently believed that
Mary was Mother of God [Theotokos) and rejected
any suggestion that diminished her status to
Mother of Christ (Christotokos) .
Although Arcadia remained in her sister and
brother's shadow, she was not without an indepen-
34
dent sphere of influence and power. She was inde-
pendently wealthy, owning properties in the
suburbs and provinces that were inherited from
her parents or given to her by her brother, and
from which she drew fresh food and income. Since
she had access to both Pulcheria and Theodosius,
supplicants sought her out, men as well as women,
and dignitaries sent to Constantinople on missions
from elsewhere in the empire, especially from the
East, viewed her as an important personage.
She was a partner in Pulcheria's opposition to
Nestorius, the bishop of Constantinople. Nesto-
rius had become bishop on April 10, 428, with the
tacit, if not active, endorsement of the imperial
clique. He was an impolitic man who, whatever
the sincerity of his beliefs, failed to comprehend
that in his position, diplomacy was the better part
of virtue. From the pulpit he denounced women's
engagement with the affairs of state and church
and initiated a personal attack against Pulcheria.
Inflamed, Pulcheria organized her forces, among
whom were her sisters. Arcadia was included in the
flurry of letters from worthy people, especially
bishops, in the major cities of the empire, who
supported or opposed Nestorius. Her support for
Pulcheria was never in question.
Arcadia moved out of the palace with Pulcheria
after her brother married Eudoxia. Although she
owned houses in the city, she stayed most of the
time with Pulcheria in one of her sister's houses.
Arcadia died a virgin.
Sources
Sozomen. Historia Ecclesiastica IX. 1. 1—5.
Theophanus. Chronicle. AM 5905.
Holum, Kenneth. Theodosian Empresses: Women and Impe-
rial Dominion in Late Antiquity. Berkeley: University of
California Press, 1982.
Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire. Vol. II. Edited by
A. H. M. Jones, J. R. Martindale, and J. Morris. Cam-
bridge: Cambridge University Press, 1971. Reprinted
1992, pp. 129-130.
[b] Archidamia
(third century b.c.e.) Greek: Sparta
reformer
Archidamia and her daughter Agesistrata were
the two wealthiest women in Sparta during the
Archippe (2)
middle decades of the third century b.c.e. Respec-
tively the grandmother and mother of the reform-
ist king Agis IV, they used wealth and position to
secure political and economic reform.
With friends and kin, including Agiatis, the
king's wife, Archidamia formed a political alli-
ance that supported land redistribution and the
reduction and cancellation of debts. The reform-
ers met strong opposition from those who had
vastly increased their wealth through inheritance
and foreclosure during the preceding decades,
when a declining citizen population found it
increasingly difficult to pay mortgage install-
ments. In 241 b.c.e., after Agis initiated his land
and debt policies, he was overthrown and killed.
Archidamia and her daughter Agesistrata were
executed.
Sources
Plutarch. Vitae Parallelae (Parallel Lives): Agesilaus 4.2;
7.5-7; 9.5-6; 20.7.
Mosse, Claude. "Women in the Spartan Revolutions of
the Third Century B.C." In Women's History and Ancient
History, ed. by Sarah B. Pomeroy. Chapel Hill: Univer-
sity of North Carolina Press, 1991, pp. 138-153.
Archippe (I)
(sixth— fifth century b.c.e.)
political wife
Greek: Athens
Archippe was the wife of Themistocles (528-462
b.c.e.), the famous Athenian politician and mili-
tary leader who was exiled in the decade after the
battle of Salamis in 479 b.c.e. Probably Themisto-
cles first wife, her father was Lysander from the
deme of Alopece. Archippe had three sons: Archep-
tolis, Polyeuctus, and Cleophantes. Plato charac-
terized Cleophantes as good at horseback riding
and not much else.
Her exiled husband left Athens for Persia, where
he convinced the king of his usefulness, despite
having been responsible for the strategy that
defeated the Persians at Salamis. He settled in
Magnesia, where he appears to have had a second
family. Themistocles killed himself when it became
clear that he could no longer serve the Persians
without endangering the Greeks.
Although Archippe appears not to have lived in
Asia, it is unclear if her marriage was ended by
divorce or death.
Sources
Plato. Meno p. 93d-e.
Plutarch. Vitae Parallelae (Parallel Lives): Themistocles
32.1-2.
Archippe (2)
[c. 410 B.C.E.-?)
self-made woman
Greek: Athens
Archippe was an Athenian, probably born in 410 b.
c.e. or soon after. Although she died a rich woman
and a citizen with sons to inherit her wealth, she did
not come from a wealthy background nor was she
from a family of Athenian citizens.
Archippe married Pasion, who was some 20 years
her senior, around 395. An Athenian money
changer, Pasion had started life as a slave and he
became an Athenian citizen after 39 1 . At the time of
their marriage, however, he was already considered
the wealthiest banker and manufacturer in Athens.
Sources estimate that Pasion earned 100 minae per
year through money changing and between 20 and
60 minae from his shield workshop at a time when
60 minae equaled 1 talent, the approximate cost of
building an Athenian battleship.
Archippe and Pasion had two sons, Apollodorus
and Pasciles. The former was 24 and the latter 10
when their father died. Pasion left real estate worth
20 talents and capital of almost 40 talents. He left
his estate to his sons after Archippe had received a
large dowry plus property. In his will he appointed
Phormion, his business manager, as one of two
legal guardians of Archippe's wealth and instructed
her to marry him.
Archippe married Phormion, who was not an
Athenian citizen. Her son Apollodorus objected to
his mother's marriage. The marriage may well have
effectively removed Apollodorus from control over
his mother's wealth and may also have forced a
restructuring of the estate to pay out her dowry. In
an effort to annul the marriage, the son charged
Phormion with adultery. Since Athenian law pro-
hibited a legal marriage between a citizen woman
35
Archo
and a noncitizen, by implication Archippe had
gained citizenship through her first husband.
Although the court stipulated that Phormion's
sons would have no claim over any of the residual
inheritance, the suit failed to annul the marriage or
eliminate Archippe's portion under the will. Ten
years later, Phormion was granted citizenship. The
two sons born to Archippe and Phormion also
became citizens. When Archippe died those sons
inherited her property.
Sources
Demosthenes. Private Orations 45.28, 74; 45.3; 46.21.
Godolphin, Francis B., ed. The Greek Historians: The Com-
plete and Unabridged Historical Works of the Herodotus
translated by George Rawlinson, Thucydides translated
by Benjamin Jowett, Xenophon translated by Henry G.
Dakyns, Arrian translated by EdqardJ. Chinnock. 2 vols.
New York: Random House, 1942, pp. 765-766.
Lacey, W. K. The Family in Classical Greece. Ithaca, N.Y.:
Cornell University Press, 1968, passim.
Pauly, A., G. Wissowa, and W. Kroll. Real-Encyclopadie
d. Classischen Altertumswissenschaft 1893— (Germany:
multiple publishers) 541-542.
Archo
(second century b.c.e.)
war victim
Greek: Thessaly
Archo's life was inextricably linked with that of her
sister Theoxena. Their father Herodicus, a leading
citizen, had died fighting the invasion of Thessaly
by Philip V of Macedon in the late second century
b.c.e. Archo's husband also died opposing Philip.
As part of a policy of consolidation of his sover-
eignty, Philip forced whole villages and towns to
move. Uprooted from her ancestral home, Archo
left with a small child. She married Poris, a promi-
nent citizen from Aenea in northeastern Greece
and had several more children before she died.
Archo's sister, widowed in the same invasion,
also had a son but chose not to remarry. After
Archo's death, Theoxena married Poris to consoli-
date the estate and to be mother to all the children.
In 182 b.c.e., the entire family died in new vio-
lence unleashed by Philip V.
Sources
Livy. From the Founding of the City 40.3-4.
36
[a] Aretaphila
(first century b.c.e.) Greek: Cyrene
avenger
Aretaphila retired to her loom after avenging her
husband's murder. Born into a distinguished fam-
ily in Cyrene in North Africa during the first cen-
tury b.c.e., she married Phaedimus, a well-born
Cyrenian. He was murdered by Nicorates, the
tyrant of Cyrene.
Nicorates forced Aretaphila to marry him after
the murder. Determined to avenge the death of
Phaedimus, she tried to poison Nicorates. Caught,
she claimed that the draught was a love potion and
stood by her story under torture. Despite the mis-
givings of Nicorates' mother, Calbia, who distrusted
Aretaphila, she succeeded not only in saving her
life, but also in regaining her position as the tyrant's
wife. Fearful of any further direct attack on Nico-
rates, Aretaphila used her daughter to entice Nico-
rates' brother Leander into marriage. Her daughter
then convinced him that even he, the brother of the
tyrant, was not safe. Leander arranged for Nico-
rates' murder and became tyrant.
Leander proved no better a ruler than Nico-
rates, and Aretaphila determined that his tyranni-
cal rule over the people of Cyrene must also end.
She sought out the African ruler Anabus and
encouraged him to attack Cyrene. Then she bribed
him to arrange a meeting with Leander on the pre-
text of making peace. Instead, in accordance with
his agreement with Aretaphila, Leander and his
mother were turned over to the people of Cyrene.
They were both killed.
Aretaphila was asked by the people of Cyrene to
rule. She, however, having achieved her goals,
retired to private life.
Sources
Plutarch. Moralia: De mulierum virtutibus 257 A— e.
Polyaenus. Strategemata 38.
(D Arete ( I )
(fifth-fourth century b.c.e.)
Greek: Cyrene and Greece
philosopher
Arete was a philosopher in Athens at the end of the
fifth century b.c.e. She was a disciple of her father,
Ariadne, Aelia
Aristippus, a teacher of rhetoric, who was a com-
panion of Socrates. Although Socrates left no writ-
ten work, Plato portrayed Socrates and his
companions in vivid dialogues. The dialogues indi-
cate that Socrates questioned previously unexam-
ined assumptions.
Arete taught philosophy to her son Aristippus,
whom she named after her father. He became a
founder of the Cyrenaic school, which held that
pleasure of the senses was the supreme good, since
only sensory impressions are knowable and plea-
sure preferable to pain.
Sources
Diogenes Laertius. Lives of the Eminent Philosophers 2.86.
Arete (2)
(fourth century b.c.e.)
political player
Greek: Syracuse
Arete and her mother, Aristomache, shared
tumultuous turns of fortune. Arete was the daugh-
ter of Dionysius I and the wife of Dion, both of
whom ruled Syracuse, Sicily, in the third century
b.c.e. After the death of Thearides, her first hus-
band and her father's brother, she married Dion,
who was her mothers brother.
Dion, who held an influential position under
her father, Dionysius I, and his successor, Diony-
sius II, was attracted to the philosophy of Plato.
He persuaded Dionysius II to invite Plato to Syra-
cuse in 366 b.c.e. Fearful that Dion wanted to
supplant him and become Plato's ideal philoso-
pher-king, Dionysius II exiled him. Plato left Syra-
cuse soon after. Arete and her mother remained
behind.
In 361, Dionysius threatened to seize the exiled
Dion's property unless Dion persuaded Plato to
return to Syracuse. Arete and her mother con-
vinced of Dionysius' seriousness, urged Dion to
act quickly Plato returned and requested that Dion
be brought from exile. Instead, Dionysius sold
Dion's property. Plato again left Syracuse.
Dionysius also forced Arete, still in Syracuse, to
marry his friend Timocratus. In 357/356 b.c.e.,
Dion captured Syracuse while Dionysius was in
Italy. Fearful of her reception, Arete went with her
mother to meet him. Her mother informed Dion
that Arete had been forced into a second marriage.
Dion embraced Arete as his true wife.
Dion's rule became increasingly authoritarian,
and opposition increased. The two women were
aware of unrest in city, but Dion would not heed
their counsel. Callippus, a former supporter of Dion
was one of the leaders of the opposition. He feared
Arete and her mother and swore his loyalty to them
with a sacred oath. He then treacherously murdered
Dion in 354. Arete and her mother were impris-
oned. Arete gave birth to boy while incarcerated.
Soon Callippus was killed. Arete and Aristom-
ache were released. They found support from Hice-
tas, a friend of Dion. However, enemies persuaded
him to send Arete and her mother to Greece. Once
on board the ship, they were murdered.
Sources
Diodorus Siculus. Library of History 14.44.8; 16.6.4.
Plato. Epistuke 7.345c-347.
Plutarch. Dion 3.3-4; 6.1-2; 21.1-6; 51.1-5; 57.5;
58.8-10.
[b] Ariadne, Aelia
(c. 455/456-515 c.e.)
Roman: Dacia, Constantinople
Augusta
Aelia Ariadne retained her position as Augusta
despite the turmoil that left the diadem and scep-
ter of the emperor a prize of violence. The daugh-
ter of a powerful mother, the Augusta Verina, and
the emperor Leo, she was born sometime before
her father became emperor in February 457. On
becoming emperor, Leo formed a strong palace
guard under an Isaurian chieftain who took the
name of Zeno and brought to Constantinople a
sizable force. In 466 or 467, Ariadne, who was
about 12 years old, was betrothed to Zeno as his
second wife. She gave birth to a son shortly there-
after. In 474, after the death of her father, her
seven-year-old son Leo II became emperor and her
husband Zeno became regent. The widowed
Augusta Verina continued to live in the palace. A
year later, the boy died and the Senate elevated
Zeno to emperor. Ariadne became Augusta.
37
Ariadne, Aelia
Zeno's 17-year reign was never accepted by the
elite of Constantinople and suffered from mockery
heaped upon the emperor as a country bumpkin.
Accused of sustaining his rule by bribery and skill-
ful unprincipled diplomacy he was not ruthless by
standards of the time, nor did he use capital pun-
ishment. Among Zeno's problems was a conspiracy
led by his mother-in-law, who hated him. Verina
instigated a plot to replace Ariadne and Zeno with
herself and Patricius, the former Master of the Sol-
diers and her reputed lover. She solicited her
brother Basiliscus who, in turn, recruited two Isau-
rian officers Illus and Trocundees to join them.
Verina revealed the plot by her brother and the
Isaurians to Zeno. She urged him to flee with Ari-
adne. He followed her advice, and in January 475
Zeno and Ariadne left Constantinople with a good
part of the state treasury to a stronghold in Isauria.
They remained in Asia Minor for more than a year
and a half.
Verina suffered a double cross. Her brother Bas-
iliscus took on the role of emperor and elevated his
wife Zenonis to Augusta. He executed Verinas
coconspirator Patricius. However, Basiliscus failed
to rally popular or elite support. His onetime col-
laborator Illus turned his support to Zeno and
their united forces marched toward the capital.
Basiliscus fled. Soon captured, he, his wife, and
children were killed. Ariadne and Zeno returned
to Constantinople in August 476.
Ariadne and Verina joined forces against Illus,
whose influence over Zeno dimmed their own. In
478, Verina instigated a conspiracy to assassinate
Illus. However, he was only injured and retreated
to Isauria. He demanded that Zeno turn Verina
over to him before he would return to Constanti-
nople. Zeno had to choose between Verina and
Illus. He chose Illus whose support he needed and
Verina was confined to a stronghold in Isauria. By
late 479, Verinas imprisonment supplied a pretext
for Marcian, the son of Anthemius, who had been
emperor in the West between 467 and 474 and to
whom Ariadne's younger sister, Leontia, had
been betrothed, with a reason to attack Zeno.
Only the military intervention of Illus saved
Zeno.
Despite Illus's success, Ariadne demanded Veri-
nas return to Constantinople. Zeno sent Ariadne
to Illus, but he refused to release Verina. Ariadne
forced a choice between her and Illus. Zeno chose
her. She arranged for Illus's assassination. He was
attacked in the city and his right ear severed. How-
ever, the assassin was killed instead.
The one-eared Illus requested permission to
depart and received the position of Master of Sol-
diers in the East from Zeno. He, along with many
of his supporters, went to Antioch and forged alli-
ances to unseat Zeno. Ariadne and Zeno contin-
ued to seek the release of Verina. Leontius, an
Isuarian general, went to Antioch to demand her
return, only to become a supporter of Illus when
the latter offered him the position of emperor. Illus
brought Verina to Tarsus to crown Leontius
emperor. A proclamation, issued in her name as
the reigning Augusta, was spread throughout the
empire to establish the legitimacy of Leontius. In
the ensuing civil war, Illus was defeated in autumn
of 484 with the help of the Ostrogoths. Illus fled
with Verina and Leontius to a fortress in the moun-
tains of Isaurus, where Verina died shortly after
arrival. Zeno ruled until his death in April 49 1 .
Ariadne, the sole survivor of her generation,
became a power broker for the next emperor.
Important political leaders and the Senate met and
bowed to her choice for a successor to her hus-
band. She selected Anastasius, who was around 60
years old and had not engaged in politics. He was a
member of the 30 Silentiaries, a group of imperial
guards made up of distinguished men of wealth
and property honored with an appointment by the
emperor. Unlike Zeno or Leontius in appearance
and education, Anastasius was a choice consonant
with the ideals and interests of the elite. On May
20, 491, Ariadne married him. Through Ariadne,
his reign connected with the past and gained
legitimacy.
Ariadne died in 515, after having reigned as
Augusta for some 41 years. Among imperial
women, only Liva, the wife of Augustus, lived
close to the imperial center for as many decades,
although Livia was never formally an Augusta until
after her death.
38
Aristomache
Sources
Theophanes. Chronicle. AM 5951, 5965, 5983, 5971,
6008.
Bury, J. B. Later Roman Empire from the Death ofTheodosius
to the Death of Justinian. New York: Dover Publications,
1958.
Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire. Vol. IIIA. Edited
by A. H. M. Jones, J. R. Martindale, and J. Mor-
ris. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1971.
Reprinted 1992, pp. 140-141.
Aristomache
(fourth century b.c.e.)
political player
Greek: Syracuse
Aristomache was at the center of a struggle for
control over Syracuse, in Sicily during the fourth
century b.c.e. She, her daughter, and her brother,
who was also her daughter's husband, constituted a
faction influenced by Plato and his ideal of a phi-
losopher-king. Their struggles began after the
death of Dionysius I in 376 b.c.e. and ended with
their own murders sometime after 354.
Aristomache, the daughter of Hipparinus, a
notable of Syracuse, was the wife of the tyrant Dio-
nysius I. She was a cowife, married on the same day
that Dionysius also married Doris of Locri, the
daughter of Xenetus, from a leading family in Locri.
Dionysius was said to have dined with both women
and then bedded each in turn. Other sources claim
that Dionysius feared the women and slept with
them only after they were searched.
Aristomache bore no children until Dionysius
killed Doris's mother, who allegedly had used drugs
to prevent Aristomache from conceiving a child. Of
her subsequent two daughters, it is known that
Sophrosyne married Dionysius II. The other, Arete
(2), was her mother's lifetime ally. Her first husband
was Thearides, the brother of Dionysius I. Her sec-
ond husband was Dion, Aristomache's brother.
After the death of Dionysius I, Aristomache
threw in her lot with Arete and Dion, who held a
high position at the court of Dionysius II. Influ-
enced by Plato, Dion sought to make Dionysius II
a philosopher-king and in 366, he persuaded Dio-
nysius to invite Plato to Syracuse. However, Diony-
sius exiled Dion in 365 after he became convinced
that Dion intended his overthrow. Dion went to
Athens, and Plato soon followed.
Aristomache and her daughter remained in Syr-
acuse, where they lobbied on behalf of Dion and
protected his wealth as best they could. Dionysius
demanded that Dion persuade Plato to return. It
was both promise and threat. If Plato returned,
Dion would no longer be threatened, but if he
refused to come, Dion's estate in Syracuse would
be confiscated. Aristomache and Arete were vul-
nerable and alarmed. They wrote Dion to urge Pla-
to's return.
Even though Plato returned, Dionysius confis-
cated Dion's estate. He also forced Arete to marry
his friend Timocratus. When Plato had difficulty
leaving, Dion had no choice but to raise a merce-
nary army and wage war against Dionysius. In
357-56, Dion marched on Syracuse while Diony-
sius was in Italy. Aristomache met him. Since Arete
was uncertain of her reception, Aristomache
assumed control over the situation and informed
her brother of Aretes forced marriage. Dion
embraced Arete as his wife.
Aristomache remained close to her daughter
and brother during his rule of Syracuse and Dion
might well have come to a less bloody end had he
listened more closely to her advice. Dion sought to
emulate a philosopher-king. He lived modestly
with his wife and sister and eschewed the ribald
and coarse entertainments of his military compan-
ions. He also sought to circumscribe the demo-
cratic assembly of citizens. His attempt to establish
an aristocratic government bred discontent. In a
critical error of judgment he allowed the murder of
Heracleides, who had once won a naval victory
over Dionysius but had had become Dion's oppo-
nent. Filled with remorse over the slaying, Dion
failed to listen closely to Aristomache when she
and Arete reported a plot against him led by Cal-
lippus, a man who Dion believed to be a friend.
Hearing that Aristomache and Arete had
become convinced of his treachery, Callippus
approached the women. He proclaimed his loyalty.
The women demanded a binding oath in the sanc-
tuary of Demeter and Persphone, where the sacred
rites were performed. Callippus donned the purple
39
Arrecina Tertulla
vestments of the goddesses and recited the oath
while holding a blazing torch. All to no avail.
Callippus had Dion murdered in 354 b.c.e. Aris-
tomache and Arete were imprisoned. There Arete
gave birth to a boy, a posthumous son of Dion. No
sooner had Callippus set out on military campaigns,
however, than he lost control over Syracuse. In
another turn of fortune, Aristomache, Arete, and the
baby were released from prison into the friendly care
of Hicetas of Syracuse, a friend of Dion. This, how-
ever, was the act of treachery that ended their lives.
Hicetas, persuaded by opponents of the Dion
faction, sent the women with the baby to Greece.
No doubt the women agreed, since their lives and
that of Dion's posthumous son hung by a thread in
Syracuse. Once on board ship, the three were mur-
dered, either by sword or by drowning.
Sources
Diodorus Siculus. Library of History 14.44.8; 16.6.4.
Plato. Epistulae 7.345c-347.
Plutarch. Dion 3.3-6; 6.1-2; 18.6-9; 19.8; 21.5-6; 51.1-
5; 56.1-6; 58.8-10.
Valerius Maximus. Factorum et dictorum memorabilium
libri 1X9.13-4.
Arrecina Tertulla
(first century C.E.)
young wife
Roman: Rome
Arrecina Tertulla was the daughter of Arrecinus
Clemens, one of the two prefects of the Praetorian
Guard under the emperor Gaius Caligula. She
married the future emperor Titus in the 60s c.e.
She died before his father, Vespasian, became
emperor. They had no children.
Sources
Suetonius. The Lives of the Caesars: Titus 4.2.
Levick, Barbara. Claudius: The Corruption of Power. New
Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 1993, pp. 37-38.
[a] Arria Fadilla
(first-second century c.e.) Roman: Gaul
mother of Antoninus Pius
Arria Fadilla was from Nemausus (Nimes) in
Roman Gaul. She was a member of the new pro-
vincial elite that came to power with the emperor
Trajan and that formed the dynasty of the Anto-
nines. She was well educated and very wealthy.
Like many of the women in these elite families, she
successfully managed her own business affairs with
properly inherited from her father's as well as her
mother's sides of the family.
Her father, Arrius Antoninus, had been consul
suffectus in 69 c.e. and proconsul of Asia. He was a
friend of the emperor Marcus Cocceius Nerva, under
whom he served a second time as consul, and with
whom he shared an interest in Greek poetry. His
poetry was sufficiently well known for Pliny the
Younger to have commented favorably upon it. Arria
Fadilla's mother was Boionia Procilla, whose family
probably had connections to the emperor Trajan.
Arria Fadilla married Aurelius Fulvus, a man
also from a provincial consular family in Nimes. It
was a successful marriage. Their son, Titus Aurelius
Fulvus Boionus Arrius Antoninus, became the
emperor Antoninus Pius (reigned 137-61) after
his adoption by Hadrian.
Sources
Pliny the Younger. Epistulae 4.3.
Scriptores Historiae Augustae. Antoninus Pius 1 .4
Pauly, A., G. Wissowa, and W. Kroll. ReaTEncyclopadie
d. Classischen Altertumswissenschaft 1893— (Germany:
multiple publishers) 44.
Syme, Ronald. Tacitus. 2 vols. Oxford: Clarendon Press,
1958, pp. 604-605.
Arria the Elder
(first century c.e.)
stoic
Roman: Italy
Arria lived a life of passionate commitment shared
by her daughter, the younger Arria, and her
granddaughter, Fannia (2). Living in the most
influential political circles of her time, her behav-
ior underscored traditions of character, family loy-
alty, and honor admired and rarely practiced in the
conflicts that racked elite Roman society during
the middle decades of the first century c.e.
Educated and articulate, Arria and her hus-
band, Caecina Paetus, followed the teachings of
the Stoics. They believed in the dignity of the
40
Arria the Younger
Senate and the responsibility of senators to speak
out about the affairs of the empire. In 42 c.e.
Paetus sided with Lucius Arruntius Camillus
Scribonianus, legate in Dalmatia and consul in
32, when Scribonianus led two legions in an ill-
conceived and ill-fated revolt against the emperor
Claudius. Even though Arria was a friend of Vale-
ria Messallina, the wife of Claudius, she trav-
eled with Paetus to Dalmatia in support of the
insurgency. The legions, however, refused to
march on Rome, and the revolt was quashed in
four days. Scribonianus was killed, and Paetus
was taken prisoner.
Arria sought to accompany her husband on
board the ship taking him to Rome. She argued that
a man of his rank, even though a prisoner, should be
accorded several slaves for his toilet and table. Were
she present, she would be able to serve him. When
the soldiers refused her request, Arria hired a small
fishing boat and followed behind her husband's ship
to Rome. There, at the emperors palace, she encoun-
tered Vibia, the wife of Scribonianus, also newly
returned from Dalmatia, who had testified against
her own husband in the resulting inquiry. When the
woman approached, Arria turned away, declaring
that she would not suffer conversation with a woman
who clung to life although her murdered husband
had died in her arms.
Arria's strength of character rested on her con-
viction that marriage bound her with her husband
in public as well as in private life. Her husband and
their beloved son were both critically ill, and the
son died. Arria arranged for the funeral and kept
the news from Paetus so that grief would not tip
the scales in his own struggle to live.
Her death was as noble as her life. Awaiting her
husband's conviction for treason, she refused to
appeal to her friend Messallina and made it clear to
her family that she planned to die with him. Her
son-in-law, Publius Clodius Thrasea Paetus, sought
to dissuade her. He asked if she would tell her
daughter to die in similar circumstances. Arria
responded that she would, if her daughter had as
harmonious a shared life with her husband as Arria
had with hers. When her family sought to protect
her from herself, she beat her head against a wall
until she lost consciousness, making plain that
they could not force her to live.
When the time came for Paetus to die, Arria
was by his side. She took the sword and plunged it
into her breast, sealing her immortality by telling
him that it did not hurt.
Sources
Dio Cassius. Roman History 60.16.5—7.
Pliny the Younger. Epistulae 3.16.
Martial. Epigrammata 1.13
Oxford Classical Dictionary, ed. by Simon Hornblower and
Antony Spawforth. 3d. ed. New York: Oxford Univer-
sity Press, 1996, p. 175.
Pomeroy, Sarah B. Goddesses, Whores, Wives, and Slaves:
Women in Classical Antiquity. New York: Schocken
Books, 1975, p. 161.
[b] Arria the Younger
(first century c.e.) Roman: Italy
stoic
Arria belonged to a circle of distinguished men
and women who shaped the literary and philo-
sophical ideas of the period and who were active in
the politics of the day. Often, they risked their for-
tunes and their lives to oppose the emperors. Her
mother, the elder Arria, and her father, Caecina
Paetus, had committed suicide in 42 c.e. after her
father had been convicted of treason against the
emperor Claudius.
By marrying Publius Clodius Thrasea Paetus,
consul suffectus in 56, Arria, who was related to
the Stoic satirist Aulus Persius Flaccus (34-62 c.
e.), entered into a senatorial family that reinforced
the union of honor, politics and Stoic discourse.
Her husband upheld the family tradition when he
walked out of the Senate after a self-serving letter
was read in which the emperor Nero enumerated
the charges that justified the death of his own
mother, the younger Agrippina.
The almost inevitable happened in 66. Thrasea
Paetus was accused in the Senate of treason. Hel-
vidius Priscus, the husband of Arria and Thrasea
Paetus's only child, Fannia (2), was also accused.
Priscus, a fellow student of Stoicism, had married
Fannia in about 55. The accusation that he shared
Thrasea Paetus's views was no doubt justified.
41
Arsinoe
Arria's husband was condemned to death, and Pris-
cus was banished. Thrasea Paetus learned of his
fate while hosting a dinner. He urged his guests to
leave so as not to be implicated in his affairs and
turned his attention to committing suicide. Arria
intended to follow her mother's example and die
with her husband, but he convinced her to live for
the sake of their daughter. She and Fannia were
closely linked thereafter. Since Fannia was already
a grown woman and married, Arria may have used
her own wealth to augment the losses to her daugh-
ter from the confiscation of both Thrasea Paetuss
and Priscus's estates.
In 66, Arria and Fannia left Rome voluntarily
with the banished Priscus. The three returned in
68, when Galba supplanted Nero as emperor. Pris-
cus immediately began a prosecution of Marcellus
Epirus, who had received 5 million sesterces for his
earlier successful prosecution of Priscus and Thra-
sea Paetus. Fortune as well as honor was at stake.
Among the senators, more than a few had finan-
cially benefited from the late persecutions and were
themselves vulnerable to attack from newly
returned exiles. The Senate was divided, and Pris-
cus withdrew his case on the advice of friends.
Priscus continued to attack Epirus outside the
Senate. Around 75, the emperor Vespasian, angered
by Priscus's attacks and claiming that he did the
state no service by constantly harping on wrongs
from the past, again exiled him. Fannia and Arria
left with him. Soon after, Priscus was executed,
although sources note that Vespasian had sent a let-
ter that arrived too late to prevent the execution.
Arria and Fannia returned to Rome after the
death of Vespasian, and they once more entered on
a collision course with the emperor. At the time of
Thrasea Paetuss death, Junius Arulenus Rusticus,
then plebeian tribune, had offered to veto the Sen-
ate's resolution condemning Thrasea Paetus. His
offer had been refused, for Thrasea Paetus did not
wish to jeopardize the young man at the beginning
of his career by causing him to directly oppose the
Senate and the emperor. In 93, the emperor Domi-
tian ordered the execution of Rusticus, who had
been consul suffectus in 92, for his praise of the
dead Thrasea Paetus and the elder Helvidius Priscus.
He also ordered the execution of the younger Hel-
vidius Priscus, Fannia's stepson, and he expelled all
philosophers from Rome in an attempt to rid him-
self of Stoic sympathizers. Arria and Fannia were
among those exiled.
More specifically, Arria and Fannia were expelled
for commissioning a laudatory memoir of the
younger Helvidius Priscus. Fannia attempted to
take full blame and to spare her mother another
exile, to no avail. The women, however, once more
outlived their tormentor and returned to Rome in
96. At the request of the younger Pliny, Arria and
Fannia joined with Anteia, the widow of the
younger Helvidius Priscus, in a suit to clear the lat-
ter's name. Pliny brought the matter before the
Senate, but no action was taken.
Arria died before Fannia, although the exact
date is unknown.
Sources
Pliny the Younger. Epistulae 3.1 1; 9.13.
Tacitus. Annales 16.21-29, 33-35.
Tacitus. Historiae4.3—9.
Suetonius. The Lives of the Caesars: Domitian 10.
Suetonius. The Lives of the Caesars: Vespasian 15.
Balsdon, J. P. V. D. Roman Women. New York: John Day
Comp., 1963, p. 58.
Oxford Classical Dictionary, ed. by Simon Hornblower and
Antony Spawforth. 3d. ed. New York: Oxford Univer-
sity Press, 1996, p. 175.
[b] Arsinoe
(fourth century b.c.e.) Greek: Macedonia
progenitor of Ptolemaic line
Arsinoe was the mother of the Ptolemaic line of
Greek rulers in Egypt that lasted from 323 b.c.e.,
after the death of Alexander the Great, until Egypt
became a Roman province in 30 b.c.e. She was
probably a lover of Philip II, ruler of Macedonia
(359-336 b.c.e.). She married a Macedonian
named Lagus, who was the father of her son Ptol-
emy. Ptolemy, a general in Alexander's army,
became Ptolemy I Soter, ruler of Egypt.
Sources
Oxford Classical Dictionary, ed. by Simon Hornblower and
Antony Spawforth. 3d. ed. New York: Oxford Univer-
sity Press, 1996, p. 1,271.
42
Arsinoe' II Philadelphia
Pauly, A., G. Wissowa, and W. Kroll. Real-Encyclopadie
d. Classischen Altertumswissenschaft 1893— (Germany:
multiple publishers) 24.
Arsinoe I
(300 B.C.E.-?)
political player
Greek: Greece and Egypt
Arsinoe I and her sister-in-law, Arsinoe II Phila-
delphus, vied for power in the generation born
after the death of Alexander the Great. Born in
300 b.c.e., she was the daughter of Nicaea (i) and
Lysimachus, one of Alexanders generals. In 289 or
288 she married Ptolemy II Philadelphia and had
three children: Ptolemy III Euergetes, Berenice
Syra, who married the Seleucid king Antiochus II,
and Lysimachus.
Arsinoe was no match for her sister-in-law. After
escaping from her husband/stepbrother Ptolemy
Ceraunus, who ruled Macedonia, Arsinoe II per-
suaded Ptolemy II to become her husband and
banish Arsinoe on trumped up charges of conspir-
acy. The very wealthy Arsinoe went to Coptus in
Upper Egypt where she lived in great splendor and
exercised considerable power. Her eldest son ruled
Egypt after his father's death.
Sources
Polybius. Histories 25.5.
Cary, M. A History of the Greek World from. 323 to 146 B.C.
London: Methuen, 1951, passim.
Macurdy, Grace. Hellenistic Queens. Reprint. Chicago: Ares
Publishers, 1985, pp. 109-111.
Oxford Classical Dictionary, ed. by Simon Hornblower and
Antony Spawforth. 3d. ed. New York: Oxford Univer-
sity Press, 1996, p. 177.
[b] Arsinoe II Philadelphus
(c. 316-270 b.c.e.)
Greek: Egypt and Macedonia
coruler; deified
Arsinoe II played an important role in the compli-
cated marital and political coalitions formed in
the generation born after the death of Alexander
the Great in 323 b.c.e. She was the daughter of
Ptolemy I Soter of Egypt and Berenice I. In 300
or 299 b.c.e., she married Lysimachus, a compan-
ion of her father and of the late Alexander. Her
husband had became ruler of Thrace and had
gained control of Macedonia and Thessaly in the
years since Alexander's death. He shed his second
wife to marry Arsinoe and cement relations with
her father.
Arsinoe was about 16 when she married; Lysi-
machus was 60 or 6 1 . She strongly influenced her
elderly husband who gave her the towns of Hera-
clea, Tius, Amastris, and Cassandria. They had
three sons. Determined that one of her sons would
succeed her husband, she convinced Lysimachus to
eliminate Agathocles, his eldest son by a previous
marriage. He charged the boy with treason and put
him to death in 283.
Lysimachus was killed in battle in 28 1 . Arsinoe,
who was in Ephesus, dressed her maid in royal
clothing while she darkened her face and dressed
in rags. With her three sons, she went to the shore
where ships were waiting to take them to Macedo-
nia. She escaped and the maid, whom she left
behind, was killed. Settling in Cassandreia, she
raised a mercenary army from her own wealth.
Arsinoe II
(Date: 270 B.C.E.-240 B.C.E. 1935.117.1086, Archives, American
Numismatic Society)
43
Arsinoe III Philopator
Arsinoe married Ptolemy Ceraunus, her half
brother, who ruled Macedonia and Thrace after
having killed Seleucus I to become king. The dis-
trustful Arsinoe forced Ceraunus to marry her in
front of the Macedonian troops outside the gates
of Cassandreia. Shortly thereafter, Ceraunus killed
two of her sons even as she held them. The eldest,
who had warned his mother against the marriage,
had escaped to Illyria before the wedding. Fearful
of Arsinoe's brother, Ptolemy II, Philadelphus,
Ceraunus spared Arsinoe. She, however, mindful
of her vulnerable position, left for Egypt.
Almost 40 years old, Arsinoe married her
brother Ptolemy II after persuading him to banish
his wife, Arsinoe I. Theirs was the first sibling
marriage among the Greek rulers of Egypt. Prior to
the marriage, Ptolemy II had been defeated by
Antiochus I, and Egyptian forces had been driven
from Syria. After the marriage, Arsinoe energized
her new husband to lead the Egyptians to a victory
that included the capture of Phoenicia and most of
the coast of Asia Minor from Miletus to Calycad-
nus in Cilicia. She also strengthened Egyptian sea
power to expand the sphere of Egypt's influence.
She and her husband ruled for about five years.
She was the first Greek woman ruler of Egypt to
have her portrait appear along with that of her
husband on coins. She and her husband were also
the first Ptolemaic rulers to deify themselves dur-
ing their lifetime. She was considered an incarna-
tion of the Egyptian goddess Isis. Poets composed
verses about her, and the court of Alexandria
flourished. Arsinoe wanted her son Ptolemy,
whose father was Lysimachus, to become king of
Macedonia, but she died in 270 b.c.e. before she
could succeed.
Sources
Justin. Epitome 24.2-3.
Polyaenus. Strategemata 18.57.
Burstein, Stanley Mayer. "Arsinoe II Philadelphos: A Revi-
sionist View." In Philip II, Alexander the Great, and the
Macedonian Heritage, ed. by W. Lindsay Adams and
Eugene N. Borza. Washington, D.C.: University Press
of America, 1982, pp. 197-212.
Cary, M. A History of the Greek World from 323 to 146 B.C.
London: Methuen, 1951, passim.
Macurdy, Grace. Hellenistic Queens. Reprint. Chicago: Ares
Publishers, 1985, passim.
Oxford Classical Dictionary, ed. by Simon Hornblower and
Antony Spawforth. 3d. ed. New York: Oxford Univer-
sity Press, 1996, p. 177.
Pomeroy, Sarah B. Women in Hellenistic Egypt. New York:
Schocken, 1984, passim.
Tarn, William Woodthorpe. Hellenistic Civilization. Lon-
don: Methuen, 1966, passim.
[a] Arsinoe III Philopator
(third century b.c.e.) Greek: Egypt
ruler
Arsinoe III, a brave, beloved, and virtuous ruler,
was victimized by her brother/husband and even-
tually murdered in a conspiracy headed by her
husband's lover and brother. Born in 235 b.c.e.,
she was the daughter of Berenice II of Cyrene
and Ptolemy III Euergetes. In 217 Arsinoe, who
was still a young woman, was present on the bat-
tlefield of Raphia in Coele-Syria where she rallied
the troops and prevented a defeat by Antiochus III
the Great in the Fourth Syrian War. After the bat-
tle, she married her brother, Ptolemy IV Philopa-
tor. Arsinoe, who was much younger than her
brother, gave birth to a boy in 210.
The marriage was not happy. Ptolemy was
addicted to drink and debauchery. He became
besotted with Agathocleia, who had come to
Egypt from Samos with her mother and brother.
Along with her mother, Oenanthe, and her
brother, Agothocles, Agathocleia murdered Ptol-
emy and Arsinoe in 205. Enraged primarily at the
death of Arsinoe, whom they admired, the army
and the people of Alexandria tore the assassins
limb from limb.
Sources
Athenaeus. Deipnosophistae 276b.
Polybius. Histories 5.83-84; 15.33.
Macurdy, Grace. Hellenistic Queens. Reprint. Chicago: Ares
Publishers, 1985, pp. 136-141.
Oxford Classical Dictionary, ed. by Simon Hornblower and
Antony Spawforth. 3d. ed. New York: Oxford Univer-
sity Press, 1996, pp. 177-178.
Pomeroy, Sarah B. Women in Hellenistic Egypt. New York:
Schocken, 1984, pp. 50-51.
44
Artemisia I
Arsinoe Auletes
(65 B.c.E-43/40 b.c.e.)
coruler; insurgent leader
Greek: Egypt
Arsinoe Auletes engaged in a struggle with her
older sister Cleopatra VII for control over Egypt
that cost her life. Her mother was possibly Cleopa-
tra VI Tryphaena, and her father was Ptolemy
XII Auletes. She was born about 65 b.c.e. She
seems to have been as strong-willed as Cleopatra
VII but without her charm, allure, diplomatic
skills, or culture. In 48, when Julius Caesar decreed
that Cleopatra VII and her brother Ptolemy XIII,
should be joint rulers of Egypt and marry each
other, he also made Arsinoe Auletes and her other
brother, Ptolemy XIV, joint rulers of Cyprus.
Arsinoe was kept under watch by Caesar.
Jealous of Cleopatra VI Is more prominent role,
she escaped to Alexandria aided by the eunuch
Ganymede. She was about 17 when the Egyptian
forces in Alexandria, led by their commander-in-
chief Achillas, declared her ruler of Egypt. Not sat-
isfied with a secondary role, she soon vied with
Achillas over control of the armed forces. She had
him killed and took charge. She appointed Gany-
mede head of the armed forces in the fight against
Caesar. The Egyptian forces, unhappy under the
control of a woman and a eunuch, asked Caesar to
send the young Ptolemy XIII, Arsinoe's brother, to
discuss peace terms. Instead, the Egyptian forces
rallied around Ptolemy XIII. Arsinoe was defeated
after a hard struggle.
Fearful that Arsinoe would again rally the Egyp-
tians, Caesar took her to Rome and paraded her in
regal attire and chains in his triumph. In 41, he
allowed Arsinoe to go free, and she became a sup-
pliant in the temple of Artemis at Ephesus. After
Caesar's death, Mark Antony, at the request of
Cleopatra VII, ordered that she be taken from the
temple and killed.
Sources
Appian. Roman History: Bella civilian (Civil Wars) 5.9.
Dio Cassius. Roman History 42.35, 39-40, 42; 43.19.2-4.
Josephus. Antiquitates Judaicae (Jewish Antiquities) 15.
89-90.
Macurdy, Grace. Hellenistic Queens. Reprint. Chicago: Ares
Publishers, 1985, passim.
Pauly, A., G. Wissowa, and W. Kroll. Real-Encyclopadie
d. Classischen Altertumswissenschaft 1893— (Germany:
multiple publishers) 28.
Artacama
(fourth century b.c.e.)
political wife
Persian: Persia
Artacama married Ptolemy, the future ruler of
Egypt, when he was still a general in the army of
Alexander the Great. Artacama was the daughter
of Artabazus (387-325 b.c.e.), who was appointed
satrap of Dascylium by Artaxerxes II, king of Per-
sia. After subduing the Persians, Alexander arranged
to have 80 of his most distinguished Macedonian
officers marry women of the Persian aristocracy in
an effort to meld conquerors and conquered.
The marriages, including that of Artacama and
Ptolemy, took place in 324 at Susa. After the death
of Alexander in 323, the experiment in union
through marriage fell apart. Artacama and Ptolemy
divorced.
Sources
Arrian. Anabasis of Alexander 7-4.
Cary, M. A History of the Greek World fom 323 to 146 B.C.
London: Methuen, 1951, p. 250.
Artemisia I
(fifth century b.c.e.)
ruler
Greek: Asia Minor
Artemisia captained five ships in Xerxes' Persian
fleet at the battle of Salamis against the Greeks in
480 b.c.e. Widowed, and with a young son, she
ruled Halicarnassus, Cos, Nisyrus, and Calyndus
in southwestern Asia Minor. Her father was Lygda-
mis of Halicarnassus, and her mother was thought
to be of Cretan background. She assumed rule over
Halicarnassus, whose inhabitants were Greek, after
the death of her husband. Although she ruled
under Persian suzerainty, it was not necessary for
her bring a fleet into battle.
Artemisia provided ships as well as wise and
practical counsel for Xerxes. She was the only one
of his naval commanders to urge him — correctly —
45
Artemisia II
not to engage the Greek fleet in the straits of Sala-
mis. She escaped after the Persian defeat by sinking
an enemy vessel. Later she transported part of
Xerxes' family to Ephesus.
A white marble figure was erected in the portico
of the temple of Artemis in Sparta to commemo-
rate her actions at Salamis.
Sources
Herodotus. The Persian Wars 7.95-100.
Pausanias. Description of Greece 3.1 1, 3.
Hammond, N. G. L. A History of Greece. Oxford: Oxford
University Press, 1967, p. 239.
Oxford Classical Dictionary, ed. by Simon Hornblower and
Antony Spawforth. 3d. ed. New York: Oxford Univer-
sity Press, 1996, p. 184.
Artemisia II
(fourth century b.c.e/
ruler
Greek: Asia Minor
Artemisia ruled Caria, a virtually independent
satrapy of Persia in southwest Asia Minor, after the
death of her brother/husband, Mausolus, in 353 or
352 b.c.e. In memory of her husband, she contin-
ued to build a mausoleum he had begun in Hali-
carnassus that would become one of the Seven
Wonders of the Ancient World.
The foundation of the Mausoleum was about 100
by 140 feet with a high base upon which stood a col-
onnade of some 36 Ionic columns supporting a
pyramidlike cap that reached a height of about 140
feet. The architect was Pythius, who was said to have
sculpted a major chariot group frieze for the struc-
ture. Other well-known sculptors of the time, includ-
ing Scopas, Bryaxis, Timotheus, and Leochares, were
also said to have contributed to the project.
Following in her husband's Panhellenic literary,
scientific, and artistic path, Artemisia sponsored a
competition in oratory attended by the leading fig-
ures of the day, including Isocrates. The winner
was Theopompus. She also must have had an inter-
est in horticulture and named a plant after herself.
An attack on Rhodes by exiles expecting sup-
port from Athens gave Artemisia reason for attack-
ing and conquering Rhodes. She died a short time
later in 351 b.c.e.
The Mausoleum, with its sculptured groupings
of animals and human figures, was destroyed in
an earthquake before the 15th century c.e. In
1857 the site was excavated by C. T. Newton.
Among the pieces brought to the British Museum
were colossal statutes of Mausolus and Artemisia.
Sources
Aulus Gellius. Nodes Atticae 10.18.1-6.
Pliny the Elder. Naturalis Historia 25.36; 36.30-32.
Oxford Classical Dictionary, ed. by Simon Hornblower and
Antony Spawforth. 3d. ed. New York: Oxford Univer-
sity Press, 1996, p. 184.
Artonis
(fourth century b.c.e.)
political wife
Persian: Persia
Artonis was one of 80 noble Persian women who
were married the elite Macedonian officers of Alex-
ander the Great in a mass ceremony in Susa in 324
b.c.e. She was the daughter of Artabazus, who
defected to Alexander the Great and was made
satrap of Bactria.
Artonis married Eumenes, a Greek from Cardia,
who was Alexander's principal secretary. Eumenes
divorced Artonis after Alexander died.
Sources
Arrian. Anabasis of Alexander 7.4.
Artoria Flaccilla
(first century c.e.)
loyal wife
Roman: Rome
Artoria Flaccilla lived among the rich, the edu-
cated, and the imperial elite. Her husband,
Novius Priscus, was a close friend of the philoso-
pher Lucius Annaeus Seneca. For some eight
years at the beginning of Nero's reign, Seneca
and Sextus Afranius Burrus were the emperor's
two most important advisers. Burrus died in 62
c.e., and Seneca fell from favor as Nero's behav-
ior became more extreme. In 65, Nero falsely
accused Seneca of participating in the Pisonian
conspiracy to kill the emperor and forced him to
commit suicide. Nero sent Priscus into exile,
46
Asella
and Artoria Flaccilla voluntarily went with her
husband.
Sources
Tacitus. Annates 15.71.
(D Asella
(c. 334-fifth century c.e.)
ascetic
Roman: Rome
Asella's parents dedicated their newborn daughter
to a life of Christian asceticism and virginity. She
exceeded her parents' expectations. Asella lived
with her sister, Marcella, in the first house in
Rome devoted to chaste virgins and widows.
Asella's family was extremely wealthy and she
came from a patrician line. Her grandfather Caeio-
nius Rufius Albinus had been consul in 345-346.
Nonetheless, she was born at a time when there was
a sense of foreboding and concern for the future.
Christianity was on the rise and asceticism was a
new movement. It touched older beliefs. The vir-
ginal woman was a Roman pagan tradition. The
patrician Roman families had always dedicated
daughters to fill the ranks of the Vestal Virgins, a
position that contributed to family honor and was
regarded as assuring the well-being of Rome. The
position had a term of 30 years after which an hon-
orably retired woman was left financially well
rewarded, with wealth that would accrue to the
family. Dedicating a child at birth to a life of Chris-
tian virginity, however, offered no comparable
honor to the family or long-term financial benefit.
Rather, Asella's parents were drawn to a new view of
virginity that allowed their daughter to find Christ
for eternity. For such parents, the promise never to
seek a husband for a daughter was the greatest gift
they could bestow upon their child.
Asella's mother was the elder Albina, who chose
not to remarry after the death of her husband. A
woman who wed only once had the status of uni-
vira, which also had a long tradition of honor among
pagans. Her mother's motivation, however, was
clearly Christian, not pagan. Asella's older sister,
Marcella, became a notable Christian ascetic, a fre-
quent correspondent with the church father Jerome,
and an expert in Christian doctrine who Christians
in Rome consulted on disputed points of theology.
Marcella, like her mother, chose an ascetic life after
having been married and widowed, but never hav-
ing borne any children. The family was not pleased
with either her mother or sister's choice. Peace was
kept by an agreement whereby that part of the fam-
ily fortune held by her mother and Marcella was
given to her maternal uncle, nieces, and nephews to
secure it within the family line.
Asella, whose financial relationship with the
family and its wealth is unknown, adopted a more
extreme ascetic lifestyle than her sister and at an
earlier age. At age 10, she consecrated herself to
Christ. She sold her gold necklace without notify-
ing her parents, although what she did with the
proceeds of the sale remains unknown, and she
began to dress plainly in dark clothes, although
neither of her parents had wished her to assume a
monkish garb.
Her mother died in 388 and Asella, her sister,
and the women around them who shared their
passion for a modest Christian life moved to a
smaller residence in a suburb of Rome. In contrast
with the other members of the community, Asella
lived alone in a small cell. She rarely met with her
sister or anyone else.
Jerome's correspondence with Asella and the
women around her provides a coda on her life.
He wrote a letter to Marcella in 384 in which he
praised Asella's devotion to Christ and com-
mented that her holy knees were as hard as a cam-
el's from constant prayer. He asked Marcella not
to show his comment to Asella since she would
find the praise unwelcome. A year later, Jerome
left Rome and wrote Asella as he sailed away.
Jerome's leave-taking had been controversial. He
was accused by some in the Christian community
of hastening the death of Blaesilla from fasting
by his encouragement of excessive asceticism. He
also aroused comment for his close relationship
with Paula and Eustochium, friends of Asella
and her sister Marcella. His letter to Asella,
although not apologetic, was a self-serving expla-
nation of his behavior to a woman he evidently
admired for her saintliness.
47
Aspasia
Asella was still alive in 405 according to the his-
torian Palladius.
Sources
Jerome. Letters XXIV, XXV.
Palladius. The Lausiac History 41 . 4.
Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire. Vol. I. Edited by
A. H. M. Jones, J. R. Martindale, and J. Morris. Cam-
bridge: Cambridge University Press, 1971. Reprinted
1992, p. 117.
Aspasia
(fifth century b.c.e.)
self-made woman
Greek: Athens
Aspasia was the most famous woman of Athens
during the height of its democracy in the fifth cen-
tury b.c.e. She was clever, intelligent, sophisti-
cated, cultured, and politically astute. Her father,
Axiochus, was from Miletus on the southwest coast
of Asia Minor. Aspasia was Pericles' companion
and lived with him from 445 b.c.e., some five
years after he divorced his wife, Hipparete (i),
until his death in 429.
Very much a part of the public life of the city, she
participated in its intellectual and political ferment.
She visited with Socrates and his disciples. There is
some indication that several of the men who visited
with her may even have been accompanied by their
wives or other female companions. She is also said
to have educated a group of young women, possibly
resident foreigners or freedwomen.
Pericles, always open to political attack, was
especially vulnerable in his relationship with Aspa-
sia. Her public presence so close to him and
among the elite of the city drew comments, some-
times amusing, other times derisive and biting. In
the winter of 441—440 b.c.e., war broke out
between Samos and Miletus, Aspasia's birthplace,
over possession of the city of Priene. Aspasia was
accused of persuading Pericles to make war against
the Samians after the Milesians lost and appealed
to Athens for help. According to treaty, Athens
had no right to intervene; nevertheless, Pericles
conquered Samos.
After Pericles died, Aspasia joined forces with
Lysicles, a popular leader described as a low-born
sheep dealer who became famous through his asso-
ciation with her. He died in 428.
Aspasia had two children, one with Pericles and
the other with Lysicles. Pericles had been the
author of the Athenian law that restricted citizen-
ship to children born of two citizen parents. How-
ever, Aspasia and Pericles' son became a citizen
after the death of Pericles' two sons from his earlier
marriage. The child took Pericles' name and grew
up to become an Athenian general.
The exact date of Aspasia's death is not known.
Sources
Athenaeus. Deipnosophistae 5.219b-c.
Plato. Menexemus 235e-236d; 249d, e.
Plutarch. Vitae Parallelae (Parallel Lives): Pericles 24.2-6;
25.1:32.1-3.
Blundell, Sue. Women in Ancient Greece. London: British
Museum Press, 1995, p. 148.
Davies, J. K. Athenian Propertied Families, 600—300 B.C.
Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1971, p. 458.
Oxford Classical Dictionary, ed. by Simon Hornblower and
Antony Spawforth. 3d. ed. New York: Oxford Univer-
sity Press, 1996, p. 192.
Pomeroy, Sarah B. Goddesses, Whores, Wives, and Slaves:
Women in Classical Antiquity. New York: Schocken
Books, 1975, pp. 89-90.
Hj Atia(l)
(first century b.c.e.) Roman: Italy
mother ofOctavia and Augustus
Atia can truly be said to be a woman known by
her children. She was the mother of Octavian,
who became the emperor Augustus, and Octa-
via (2) and the stepmother of Octavia (i). Atia
was the elder daughter of Marcus Atius Balbus
and Julia (4), the younger sister of Julius Caesar.
Her first husband, Gaius Octavius, died in 58
b.c.e., leaving her with two children. She then
married Lucius Marcius Philippus, who was con-
sul in 56.
When Caesar was murdered, Octavian was in
Apollonia on the Adriatic Sea, where he had been
sent by his uncle for experience in campaigning.
Atia and Philippus wrote advising him to come to
Rome with dispatch, but to keep a low profile and
48
Attia Variola
assess the situation. Atia, concerned that the Sen-
ate had decreed not to punish the assassins, advised
Octavian to use wiles and patience rather than seek
confrontation.
Octavian took their advice and first stopped at
Brundisium, where he discovered that he was
Caesar's heir. Atia supported Octavian's plan to
accept his inheritance and avenge Caesar's death.
The 19th-year-old Octavian began his march on
Rome.
Octavian was 20 years old and serving his first
consulship when Atia died in 43. She had a public
funeral. Octavian conferred the highest posthu-
mous honors on her.
Sources
Appian. Roman History: Bella civilian (CivilWars) 3.13, 14.
Suetonius. The Lives of the Caesars: Augustus 6 1 .
Oxford Classical Dictionary, ed. by Simon Hornblower and
Antony Spawforth. 3d. ed. New York: Oxford Univer-
sity Press, 1996, p. 207.
Pauly, A., G. Wissowa, and W. Kroll. Real-Encyclopadie
d. Classischen Altertumswissenschaft 1893— (Germany:
multiple publishers) 34.
Syme, Ronald. The Augustan Aristocracy. Oxford: Claren-
don Press, 1986, passim.
Atia (2)
(first century b.c.e.)
niece of Julius Caesar
Roman: Italy
Atia and her older sister Atia (i), the mother of
the emperor Augustus, were the nieces of Julius
Caesar through their mother Julia (4), Caesar's sis-
ter. Their father was Marcus Atius Balbus.
Atia married Lucius Marcius Philippus, consul
suffectus in 38 b.c.e. He was the stepson of her sis-
ter, who had married Philippus's father after the
death of her first husband. They had a daughter,
Marcia (3), who later married Paullus Fabius
Maximus, consul suffectus in 45 b.c.e.
Sources
Oxford Classical Dictionary, ed. by Simon Hornblower and
Antony Spawforth. 3d. ed. New York: Oxford Univer-
sity Press, 1996, p. 207.
Pauly, A., G. Wissowa, and W. Kroll. Real-Encyclopadie
d. Classischen Altertumswissenschaft 1893— (Germany:
multiple publishers) 35.
Atilia
(first century b.c.e.)
accused adulterer
Roman: Italy
Atilia, the daughter of Serranus Gavianus, tribune
in 57 b.c.e., married Marcus Porcius Cato Uticen-
sis in 73 b.c.e. He was on the rebound from
Aemilia Lepida (i), who had unexpectedly
rejected him. Cato, an unpleasant person, was 22
years old. Atilia was about 16. Plutarch wrote that
Cato was a virgin; presumably so was Atilia.
Although not unusual for a woman, it was indica-
tive of an unusual man.
At first the marriage was sufficiently successful
for Atilia to wish to accompany Cato on a political
mission for the Senate in the East, and to be con-
cerned for his safety when he went without her.
There were several children. Nonetheless, the mar-
riage ended in divorce, with Cato accusing Atilia
of infidelity.
Sources
Plutarch. Vitae Parallelae (Parallel Lives): Cato Minor 7.3;
9.1-2; 24.1.
Pauly, A., G. Wissowa, and W. Kroll. Real-Encyclopadie
d. Classischen Altertumswissenschaft 1893-. (Germany:
multiple publishers) 79.
Attia Variola
(first century c.e.)
litigant
Roman: Rome
Attia Variola sued her father for her patrimony. She
was born into an aristocratic family and married a
member of the Praetorian Guard. Her father, a
lovesick old man, remarried at the age of 80. Eleven
days later, he disinherited Attia. The case was tried
before the entire Centumviral Court, consisting of
180 jurors. Attia was represented by Gaius Plinius
Caecilius Secundus (Pliny, the Younger), who gave
one of his best speeches. The stepmother and her
son both lost any right to inherit.
Sources
Pliny the Younger. Epistulae 6.33.
49
Attica, Caecilia
[a] Attica, Caecilia
(51 b.c.e.— ?) Roman: Rome
heiress
Caecilia Attica was the beloved only child of
Titus Pomponius Atticus, whose lifetime friend-
ship with Marcus Tullius Cicero included a cor-
respondence that provides rare insight into
personal and family life during the late republic.
Her father came from a wealthy equestrian fam-
ily and inherited additional wealth from an uncle
who had adopted him. He married Pilia in 56
b.c.e., when he was 53. She came from an old
family in the city of Cora not far from Rome. It
was his first marriage. Their daughter Attica was
born in 51.
The extant correspondence from 68 to 43 b.
c.e. between Atticus and Cicero covers both per-
sonal and professional concerns. As Attica was
growing up, the letters traced the seasonal move-
ments from city to country, the trips with her
mother to visit friends and family in and out of
Rome, and concern with the various illnesses she
suffered.
In 37 Attica married Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa,
a close friend of Atticus and a lifelong supporter,
friend, and leading military commander of Octa-
vian, the future emperor Augustus. The marriage
made Agrippa immensely wealthy. Her father
gained a relationship with the closest circle around
Octavian. One can only guess at the relationship
between the lively 14-year-old Attica and the aus-
tere Agrippa. In 31, Attica gave birth to a daugh-
ter, VlPSANIA AGRIPPINA.
After her father's death in 32, Attica was sus-
pected of having an affair with her tutor, Quintus
Caecilius Epirota, a learned freedman. She was
either divorced or died young. Agrippa contracted
another marriage in 28 b.c.e.
Sources
Cicero. Epistulae ad Atticum 12.1, 6, 13, 33; 13.14, 19,
21a, 52; 14.16.11.
Cicero. Brutus 17 .7.
Suetonius. The Lives of Illustrious Men: De Grammaticis 16.
Oxford Classical Dictionary, ed. by Simon Hornblower and
Antony Spawforth. 3d. ed. New York: Oxford Univer-
sity Press, 1996, p. 267.
Pauly, A., G. Wissowa, and W. Kroll. Real-Encyclopadie
d. Classischen Altertumswissenschaft 1893— (Germany:
multiple publishers) 78.
Aurelia (I)
(second-first century b.c.e.
mother of Julius Caesar
Roman: Rome
Aurelia came from the patrician family of the Aurelii
Cottae, whose members included two consuls
between the years 76 and 74 b.c.e. She married
Gaius Julius Caesar, who died in 85 b.c.e. She never
remarried. They had three children: a son, the great
Gaius Julius Caesar, who was 16 when his father
died, and two daughters, Julia (3) and Julia (4).
It was Aurelia who detected the presence of the
notorious Publius Clodius Pulcher disguised as a
woman in Caesars house during the Bona Dea rites,
a traditional festival restricted to well-born women.
Aurelia died in 54 while Caesar was campaign-
ing in Britain.
Sources
Plutarch. Vitae Parallelae (Parallel Lives): Caesar 10.
Balsdon, J. P. V. D. Roman Women. New York: John Day
Comp., 1963, p. 244.
Oxford Classical Dictionary, ed. by Simon Hornblower and
Antony Spawforth. 3d. ed. New York: Oxford Univer-
sity Press, 1996, p. 219.
Pauly, A., G. Wissowa, and W. Kroll. Real-Encyclopadie
d. Classischen Altertumswissenschaft 1893— (Germany:
multiple publishers) 219.
Aurelia (2)
(first century c.e.)
woman of means
Roman: Rome
Aurelia appears at the moment she was about to sign
her will in a vivid and humorous letter written by
Pliny the Younger. Even though a tutor, functioning
in the role of agent, probably was still necessary or
customary for some kinds of transactions, Aurelia,
like many Roman women of the later first century,
controlled her own affairs and could make bequests
of her own choosing. The signing of a will moreover,
was an occasion when propertied and wealthy
women dressed in an elaborate fashion, clothing
being itself valuable as well as indicative of wealth.
50
Axiothea (2)
Marcus Regulus, an advocate, seemingly made it a
habit to persuade people to include him in their
wills. He was present as one of the witnesses on the
festive occasion of the signing. He asked Aurelia to
leave him her dress. Aurelia thought he was joking,
but he was insistent, and so she wrote the bequest of
her dress into her will while he stood by. Pliny con-
cluded his letter with the report that Aurelia was still
alive and Regulus still awaited his bequest.
Sources
Pliny the Younger. Epistulae 2.20.
Aurelia Orestilla
(first century b.c.e.
possible conspirator
Roman: Rome
Aurelia Orestilla was the wife of Lucius Sergius
Catiline when he led an uprising against the senate
in 63 b.c.e. Her father was Gnaeus Aufidius
Orestes, consul in 71. She married, had a daugh-
ter, and was widowed. Left wealthy, she married
the impoverished but well-born Catiline in 68.
Vicious rumors circulated around the marriage;
one accused Catiline of having murdered his son
to marry Aurelia because she refused to become
the stepmother of a grown son.
Catiline had a varied political career. Increasingly
impoverished, however, he rallied a political base
among the indebted, both low and high born. The
combination of inflation with the rigidity of a land-
based economy and the absence of a flexible money
supply resulted in indebtedness and mortgaged
estates that fed frustration and became politically
charged. Catiline became the leader of a conspiracy
against the Senate to ease debt. The conspiracy was
uncovered and Catiline fled Rome in 62.
Catiline was said to have written his friend
Quintus Lutatius Catullus that he had sufficient
funds to meet his own obligations. However, Aure-
lia and her daughter paid some part of the debt
incurred by others on his behalf, and he left Aure-
lia vulnerable to law suits stemming from the con-
spiracy. Catiline was subsequently put to death
without a trial. Whatever her role in the conspir-
acy, or the resulting law suits, Aurelia remained
unharmed, her wealth intact.
Sources
Appian. Roman History: Bella civilian (Civil Wars) 2.2.
Cicero. In Catalinum 114
Cicero. Epistulae ad familiares 8.7 '.2.
Sallust. Bellum Catilinae 15.2; 35.3, 6.
Pauly, A., G. Wissowa, and W. Kroll. Real-Encyclopadie
d. Classischen Altertumswissenschaft 1893— (Germany:
multiple publishers) 261.
[b] Aurelia Severa
(?— 213 c.e.) Roman: Rome
priestess
Aurelia Severa was tried and convicted of violating
her vow of chastity. One of four Vestal Virgins
convicted in 213 c.e. by the emperor Marcus
Aurelius Antoninus, she and her colleagues Can-
nutta Crescentina, Clodia Laeta, and Pom-
ponia Rufina, caused a major scandal. In an
earlier age, the conviction of four out of six Vestals
would have been regarded as a sign of approaching
calamity, but times had changed. Although still
regarded as part of ancient tradition, awe had given
way to greater skepticism. Nonetheless, Aurelia
was buried alive in the ancient tradition.
Sources
Dio Cassius. Roman History 78.16, 1-3.
Axiothea (I)
(fourth century b.c.e.)
philosopher
Greek: Greece
Axiothea came from the city of Philius on the
Peloponnese, the peninsula in southern Greece.
She studied philosophy under Plato at the Acad-
emy he established in Athens.
Sources
Diogenes Laertius. Lives of the Eminent Philosophers 5.46.
Axiothea (2)
(fourth century b.c.e.)
heroine
Greek: Cyprus
Axiothea died rather than surrender when the city
of Paphos was seized in a war among Alexander the
Great's successor generals. She was the wife of
51
Axiothea (2)
Nicoles of Paphos on the island of Cyprus. Ni coles
had sided with Antigonus, who controlled most of
Asia Minor after the death of Alexander, against a
coalition led by Ptolemy I Soter of Egypt, Cas-
sander of Macedonia, and Lysimachus of Thrace.
Nicoles committed suicide in 310 b.c.e. when
Ptolemy's army surrounded his palace.
Ptolemy had issued no instructions about the
women. As his army stormed the palace, Axiothea
killed her daughters so that it would be impossible
for the enemy to rape them. She urged her sisters-
in-law to join her in committing suicide. After
they killed themselves, the brothers of Nicoles set
fire to the palace and perished in the blaze.
Axiothea was praised by the ancient historians
for her bravery in choosing death for herself and
her children over a life of slavery.
Sources
Diodorus Siculus. Library of History 20.21.1.
Polyaenus. Strategemata 8.48.
52
B
6N0
H] Balbillajulia
(second century c.E.) Greek: Asia Minor
poet
Julia Balbilla was a poet who accompanied the
imperial entourage of Vibia Sabina and her hus-
band, the emperor Hadrian, on a trip to Egypt in
130 c.e. She inscribed five epigrams on the left
foot of the Colossus of Memnon in Thebes.
Her epigrams were in Aeolian Greek, the lan-
guage used by the great poet Sappho eight centu-
ries earlier. They juxtapose the mortal and the
immortal. They tell the story of Memnon, a mythi-
cal king of Ethiopia who was killed by Achilles at
Troy and whom Zeus made immortal. Balbilla
claimed for herself piety and a royal lineage to Bal-
billus the Wise and the ruler Antiochus. On the
Colossus, she hoped that her words would last for-
ever, and she, a mortal descendant of a king, would
become immortal.
Sources
Balsdon, J. P. V. D. Roman Women. New York: John Day
Comp., 1963, p. 140.
Bowie, E. L. "Greek Poetry in the Antonine Age." In Anto-
nine Literature, ed. by D. A. Russell. Oxford: Clarendon
Press, 1990, p. 63.
Fantham, Elaine, et al. Women in the Classical World. New
York: Oxford University Press, 1994, pp. 353-354.
Pauly, A., G. Wissowa, and W. Kroll. Real-Encyclopadie
d. Classischen Altertumswissenschaft 1893— (Germany:
multiple publishers) 559.
[H Barsine (I)
(fourth century b.c.e.)
Persian: Asia Minor and Egypt
adventurer
Barsine lived an adventurous life in difficult times.
She was the daughter of Artabazus, a Persian, who
succeeded his father, Pharnabazus, as satrap of
Dascylium, a city on the Black Sea in Asia Minor.
She married a Rhodian mercenary leader, Mentor,
who along with his brother Memnon had entered
the service of Artabazus in a revolt of the satraps
(362-360 b.c.e.) quelled by the Persian ruler
Artaxerxes III.
In 353 Barsine, Memnon, and Mentor fled.
Barsine and Mentor went to Egypt where Mentor
assembled an army of Greek mercenaries. In 344,
while supposedly guarding the city of Sidon in
Phoenicia against an attack by Artaxerxes, he
instead helped Artaxerxes capture the city. Artax-
erxes rewarded him by appointing him general. In
this position Mentor helped Artaxerxes conquer
Egypt in 343. He also secured a position for his
younger brother, Memnon. After Mentor's death,
53
Barsine (2)
probably in 342 b.c.e., Barsine married Memnon.
Memnon fought successfully against Philip II of
Macedon in 336 and became commander-in-chief
of the Persian forces under Darius. He died sud-
denly around 333 b.c.e.
Barsine was captured by Alexander the Great
in Damascus after the death of Memnon. Her
high birth, beauty Greek education, and amiable
disposition brought her to his personal attention.
She was said to be the only woman with whom
Alexander had a sexual relationship prior to his
marriage. Alexander married the daughter of Bar-
sine and Mentor to his naval commander,
Nearchus.
After Alexander's death Barsine lived in Per-
gamum in Asia Minor and took part in the strug-
gles for power among Alexander's generals. Her
pawn in these struggles was Heracles, whom some
claimed was her son by Alexander. Although prob-
ably not the son of Alexander, and possibly not
even the son of Barsine, the 17-year-old boy was
taken by Alexander's former general Polyperchon
from Pergamum to use as a bargaining chip with
Cassander when he sought to gain control over
Macedonia. Polyperchon reached an agreement
with Cassander to kill Heracles in exchange for
land, support, and additional troops. Heracles was
murdered in 309 b.c.e. Polyperchon also killed
Barsine.
Sources
Diodorus Siculus. Library of History 10.20.1—4;
10.28.1-4.
Justin. Epitome 11.10; 15.2.
Plutarch. Vitae Parallelae (Parallel Lives): Alexander
21.7-11.
[a] Barsine (2)
(fourth century b.c.e.) Persian: Persia
wife of Alexander the Great; political victim
Barsine, called Stateira by Plutarch, was the eldest
daughter of Darius, the ruler of Persia. In 324
b.c.e., after having conquered Persia, Alexander
the Great arranged a mass marriage of his most dis-
tinguished officers to 80 aristocratic Persian women
in a revolutionary effort at ethnic harmony. He
married Barsine even though he already had a wife,
Roxane, whom he had married in 327. Barsine's
sister Drypetis married Hephaestion, Alexander's
closest companion.
After the death of Alexander, Barsine was a
potential rallying point in the bitter battles for
power that erupted among Alexander's generals. To
protect the position of her infant son, Roxane had
Barsine and her sister murdered and hid their bod-
ies in a well.
Sources
Arrian. Anabasis of Alexander 1 A.
Diodorus Siculus. Library of History 17.6.
Plutarch. Vitae Parallelae (Parallel Lives): Alexander
70.1-3.
Burn, Andrew Robert. Alexander the Great and the Hellenis-
tic World. London: English Universities Press, 1964, p.
122, 170, 182.
Bastia
(first century b.c.e.)
hard-hearted woman
Roman: Rome
Bastia lived through the Social War (90-88 b.c.e.)
and the proscriptions that followed in the dictator-
ship of Lucius Cornelius Sulla. She was the wife of
Gaius Papius Mutilus, a Samnite from southern
Italy and one of the two leading generals in the
armies fighting Rome. Despite passage of a law
that granted Italians full Roman citizenship, Muti-
lus refused all Roman offers of peace and led resis-
tance in the last stronghold in 80 b.c.e. in the city
ofNola.
His final defeat by Sulla coincided with the
onset of the proscriptions, a bloodbath precipi-
tated by the Roman system of rewarding informers
for uncovering the whereabouts of people on the
lists of those wanted by the state. Papius Mutilus
was listed, but Bastia was not. He came in disguise
to Bastia's house to seek refuge. She would not
admit him. It is unclear if she also threatened to
report him. He stabbed himself to death on her
doorstep. Her death is not recorded.
Sources
Livy. From the Founding of the City 89.
54
Berenice (2)
[a] Berenice (I)
(first century B.c.E.-first century
c.e.) Jewish: Judaea
political client
Berenice, the daughter of Salome and the niece of
Herod the Great of Judaea, had close ties with the
Roman imperial family through her friend, the
younger Antonia. After Berenices husband, Aris-
tobulus, was executed in 7 b.c.e., she brought
Marcus Julius Agrippa, her young son and future
ruler of Judaea, to Rome and placed him in Anto-
nia's care. He grew up with Tiberius's son Drusus
Julius Caesar, with whom he became a close friend,
and Antonias son, the future emperor Claudius.
These relationships stood him, his sister Hero-
dias, and their kin in good stead over the course of
his political life.
When Berenice died, she left her freedman Pro-
tos in the service of Antonia. It was not an unusual
bequest from a client, especially to a patron such as
Antonia, who had business interests in the East. It
was probably also an effort on Berenice's part to
assure security for Protos.
Sources
Josephus. Antiquitates Judaicae (Jewish Antiquities) 17.12;
18.143, 156, 164-165.
Leon, Harry J. The Jews of Ancient Rome. Philadelphia: Jew-
ish Publication Society of America, 1960, p. 20.
Levick, Barbara. Claudius: The Corruption of Power. New
Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 1993, p. 12.
[a] Berenice (2)
(first century c.e.)
Jewish: Judaea and Rome
political player
Berenice might have become Augusta had she not
been a foreigner and a Jew. Politically astute,
intelligent, charming, and beautiful, Berenice had
great influence with the emperors Vespasian and
Titus. Born in 29 c.e. she was the oldest daughter
of Marcus Julius Agrippa I, the king of Judaea,
and Cypros, the granddaughter of Herod the
Great. She had a younger sister, Drusilla (2)
with whom there was a lifelong sibling rivalry. In
4 1 she married into a very wealthy Jewish family
in Alexandria. When her husband died she mar-
ried her uncle Herod, the king of Chalcis in Leb-
anon, with whom she had two sons. After Herod
died she lived with her brother, Agrippa II, who
succeeded her husband as king of Chalcis. To
quiet rumors of incest, Berenice married Pole-
mon, priest-king of Olba in Cilicia, whom she
soon left.
She was responsible for the appointment of her
former brother-in-law, Tiberius Julius Alexander,
to the post of procurator of Judaea in 46. However,
her attempts to persuade Gessius Florus, procura-
tor of Judaea appointed by the emperor Nero in
64, to change his policies toward the Jews failed.
When the Jews revolted against his harsh rule, Ber-
enice barely escaped.
In 67, Vespasian, accompanied by his son Titus,
arrived in Judaea to quell the rebellion. Titus fell in
love with Berenice, who at 39 was some 1 1 years
his senior, although age had evidently made no
inroads on her beauty, charm, or diplomatic skills.
She and her brother, Agrippa, sided with Vespasian
in his successful attempt to become emperor in
place of Vitellius. Berenice accompanied her
brother to Berytus (Beirut) where Vespasian was
encamped, charmed the emperor, and plied him
with gifts.
After conquering Jerusalem in 70, Titus returned
to Rome in triumph to share the emperorship with
his father. Berenice came to Rome in 75 and lived
with Titus for several years. Widespread criticism
of the liaison forced its end. When Titus became
emperor in 79, Berenice returned to Rome, but
once again criticism ended the relationship. Ber-
enice has been called the "mini-Cleopatra" —
though Titus and Vespasian were no Julius Caesar
and Mark Antony.
Sources
Josephus. Antiquitates Judaicae (Jewish Antiquities) 18.132;
19.267-277, 354; 20.104, 145-146.
Josephus. Bellum Judaicum (Jewish Wars) 2.217, 220—222,
310-314.
Grant, Michael. The Jews in the Roman World. New York:
Charles Scribner's Sons, 1973.
55
Berenice I
Oxford Classical Dictionary, ed. by Simon Hornblower and
Antony Spawforth. 3d. ed. New York: Oxford Univer-
sity Press, 1996, p. 4.
Perowne, Stewart. Hadrian. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood
Publishing, 1976, passim.
[b] Berenice I
(340-281/271 b.c.e.)
Greek: Macedonia and Egypt
political player; deified
Berenice I was the most influential woman in
Egypt at the end of the fourth and beginning of
the third centuries b.c.e. She supplanted her cousin
Eurydice (3) in the affections of her stepbrother
Ptolemy I Soter. Born in 340 b.c.e., Berenice was
the granddaughter of Cassander, a general under
Alexander the Great, and the great-granddaughter
of Antipater, one of Alexanders successors. Her
mother was Antigone, and her father, a Macedo-
nian named Lagus.
Berenice married Philippus, a Macedonian, and
had several children, among whom were Magas,
later king of Cyrene, and Antigone. Widowed,
Ptolemy I Soter and Berenice I
(Date: 270 B.C.E- 240 B.C.E. 1956.183.28, Archives, American
Numismatic Society)
she came to Egypt as a companion to her aunt
Eurydice, who had married Ptolemy I Soter as part
of a plan by Antipater to secure marital alliances
among the successors to Alexander and thereby re-
create his empire.
Berenice, some 26 years his junior, became
Ptolemy's lover in 3 17 and persuaded him to reject
her aunt. Their love was celebrated in the Seven-
teenth Idyll of the leading poet of the period Theo-
cratus of Syracuse. She bore two children, Arsinoe
II Philadelphia and Ptolemy II Philadelphus.
Ptolemy designated their son as heir and appointed
Ptolemy Philadelphus joint ruler in 285.
Berenice married her daughter Antigone to Pyr-
rhus, later ruler of Epirus, who sought a close rela-
tionship to secure Ptolemy's support. He returned
to Epirus with money and an army. Just as Ptolemy
named a town in Berenice's honor in Egypt, so too
Pyrrhus named a town in her honor in Epirus.
Berenice died between 281 and 271 and was
deified by her son, who built temples to honor his
parents.
Sources
Plutarch. Vitae Parallelae (Parallel Lives): Pyrrhus 4.4; 6.1.
Macurdy, Grace. Hellenistic Queens. Reprint. Chicago: Ares
Publishers, 1985, pp. 103-109.
Oxford Classical Dictionary, ed. by Simon Hornblower and
Antony Spawforth. 3d. ed. New York: Oxford Univer-
sity Press, 1996, p. 239.
Pomeroy, Sarah B. Women in Hellenistic Egypt. New York:
Schocken, 1984.
Pauly, A., G. Wissowa, and W. Kroll. Real-Encyclopadie
d. Classischen Altertumswissenschaft 1893— (Germany:
multiple publishers) 9.
[b] Berenice II of Cyrene
(c. 273-221 b.c.e.)
Greek: Cyrene and Egypt
ruler
Berenice was a woman of courage, great strength
of character, and enormous ambition. She over-
came the treachery of her mother, Apama (2), to
become ruler of Cyrene, in North Africa, and suc-
ceeded in linking Cyrene with Egypt through her
marriage to Ptolemy III Euergetes.
56
Berenice II of Cyrene
Born in 273 b.c.e., Berenice was part of the tan-
gled web of relationships among five generations of
successors to Alexander's empire. Her father, Magas,
king of Cyrene, was the great-grandson of Cas-
sander, one of the generals in the army of Alexan-
der. Her grandmother Berenice I had gone to
Egypt after her father's birth. Already a widow with
several children, her grandmother became the wife
of Ptolemy I Soter and mother of Berenice's stepun-
cle Ptolemy II Philadelphia — and consequently the
most influential woman of her day.
Ptolemy II had been responsible for her father's
rule over Cyrene. Before her father died, he
arranged her marriage to Ptolemy III, the future
ruler of Egypt, for the union would extend the alli-
ance between Cyrene and Egypt into the next gen-
eration. Berenice's mother, Apama, came from the
house of the Seleucids, also successor rulers to
Alexander with an empire centered in Asia Minor.
She opposed Berenice's marriage, as did Antigonus
Gonatus of Macedonia, who had concluded an
alliance with the Seleucids. The marriage was also
opposed by the home-rule partisans of Cyrene.
After her father's death, Berenice's mother
invited the half brother of Antigonus Gonatus, the
handsome Demetrius the Fair, to come to Cyrene
and marry Berenice. Sources, sometimes unclear
about this web of relationships, especially with
regard to the women, differ as to whether Apama
or Berenice married Demetrius. They agree that he
became Apama's lover.
Fearful of the intentions of her mother and
Demetrius, Berenice, who was about 18 years old,
led a successful revolt in 255. Demetrius was killed
in Apama's bedroom, despite Apama's attempt to
shield him with her own body. Berenice prevented
any harm to her mother.
In 247, shortly after he became ruler, Berenice
married Ptolemy III. They had four children. One
son, Magas, was scalded to death in his bath by
another son, the future Ptolemy IV Philopator,
who felt that Berenice favored Magas. A daughter,
Arsinoe III Philopator, married her brother Ptol-
emy IV, and another daughter, Berenice, died in
238. In all accounts, Berenice's marriage was suc-
cessful. It has given rise to one of the famous stories
Berenice II of Cyrene
(Date: 246 B.c.E-221 b.c.e. 1967.152.626, Archives,
American Numismatic Society)
of antiquity. When Ptolemy embarked on a cam-
paign to Syria in aid of his sister, Berenice Syra,
Berenice vowed to dedicate to the gods a lock of her
hair if he returned safely. According to a literary tra-
dition that the Roman poet Catullus was said to
have borrowed from the earlier poet Callimachus,
Berenice deposited her tresses at the temple of Aph-
rodite in Alexandria. The hair disappeared, and
Conon, a Greek astronomer residing in Alexandria
in the imperial service, rediscovered the tresses in a
constellation of stars he named the Lock of Ber-
enice. It is known today as the Coma Berenices.
After the death of her husband in 221, Berenice
ruled jointly with her son Ptolemy IV Her power
was soon challenged by one of the ministers, Sosi-
bius. Rivalry between mother and minister domi-
nated imperial affairs. Chafing under his mother's
domination, Ptolemy IV had Sosibius assassinate
Berenice in 221 b.c.e. A decade later in 21 1 or 210
he established an eponymous priesthood and a
special cult in her honor.
Sources
Catullus. Poems 66.
Justin. Epitome 26.3.
57
Berenice III Cleopatra
Polybius. Histories 5-36.1.
Cary, M. A History of the Greek World from 323 to 146 B.C.
London: Methuen, \95l, passim.
Macurdy, Grace. Hellenistic Queens. Reprint. Chicago: Ares
Publishers, 1985.
Oxford Classical Dictionary, ed. by Simon Hornblower and
Antony Spawforth. 3d. ed. New York: Oxford Univer-
sity Press, 1996, p. 239.
Pomeroy, Sarah B. Women in Hellenistic Egypt. New York:
Schocken, 1984, passim.
[b] Berenice III Cleopatra
(second-first century b.c.e.) Greek: Egypt
ruler
Berenice III Cleopatra ruled Egypt jointly with her
father and then for short time independently. Her
mother was either Cleopatra IV or Cleopatra V
Selene. Her father was Ptolemy IX Soter II, also
known as Lathyrus.
She remained in Egypt after her father was
driven into exile and in 102 or 101 b.c.e. married
her uncle, Ptolemy X Alexander I. In the twisted
web of relationships among the Ptolemies, Alexan-
der was the youngest son of Berenice's grand-
mother. The marriage took place shortly after the
death of her grandmother, who had been coruler
with Alexander. Berenice fled with Alexander after
he was deposed in a popular revolt in 89. They
went to Syria, where he was killed the next year.
She returned to Egypt, where her father had once
again assumed control, and became coruler with
him. He died in 80, leaving Berenice his heir.
The women around Berenice were anxious that
she marry a male kinsman and appoint him cor-
uler. There was good reason for concern. Rome
depended on Egypt for its corn and was positioned
to exert its influence over Egyptian affairs. Taking
the initiative, Lucius Cornelius Sulla, then dictator
of Rome, sent a son of Ptolemy X Alexander to
Egypt to marry Berenice and become Ptolemy XI
Alexander II.
Neither Berenice nor the people of Alexandria
welcomed the new arrival. Nineteen days after he
wedded Berenice, in 80 b.c.e., he had her mur-
dered. Angered by the murder of Berenice, whom
the admired, the Alexandrians revolted, and Ptol-
emy XI Alexander II, the last direct male descen-
dant of Alexander the Great's general Ptolemy I,
died in ignominy.
Sources
Appian. Roman History: Bella civilian (Civil Wars) 1.102.
Cicero. De lege agrarian 1A1.
Macurdy, Grace. Hellenistic Queens. Reprint. Chicago: Ares
Publishers, 1985, passim.
[b] Berenice IV Cleopatra
(first century b.c.e.) Greek: Egypt
ruler
Berenice ruled Egypt for two to three years before
she was murdered in a struggle for power with her
father, Ptolemy XII Neos Dionysus Auletes. She
was either the daughter or the sister of Cleopatra
VI Tryphaena. Auletes was a weak man. He used
bribes that depleted his own wealth and placed tax
burdens upon the populace to strengthen his claim
to rule. In 58 b.c.e. he went to Rome to seek
Roman support against a threatened revolt. In his
absence Berenice and Cleopatra VI Tryphaena were
recognized as joint rulers by the Alexandrians. The
latter died after one year, and Berenice ruled for
two more years (58/57-56/55 b.c.e.).
The Alexandrians insisted that Berenice marry.
They sought to both strengthen Berenice's position
and preclude the claims of Auletes. Choices were
limited, and two potential matches fell through. A
hasty marriage was arranged for Berenice with a
Seleucid whose behavior was so crude that the
Alexandrians called him "Fish-packer." Berenice
had him strangled within a few days. In the mean-
time, Auletes had journeyed to Ephesus where he
hoped to bribe Gabinius, the Roman proconsul of
Syria, to secure his position in Alexandria. Gabin-
ius restored Auletes in 55, and her father immedi-
ately ordered Berenice's execution.
Sources
Dio Cassius. Roman History 39.57 ■
Josephus. Antiquitates Judaicae (Jewish Antiquities) 13.13.1;
15.1.
Strabo. Geography 12.3.34.
Macurdy, Grace. Hellenistic Queens. Reprint. Chicago: Ares
Publishers, 1985 , passim.
58
Bilistiche
Pomeroy, Sarah B. Women in Hellenistic Egypt. New York:
Schocken, 1984, p. 24.
Skeat, Theodore Cressy. The Reigns of the Ptolemies. Munich:
Beck, 1969, pp. 37-39.
[b] Berenice Syra
(c. 280-246 b.c.e.)
Greek: Egypt and Antioch
ruler
Berenice struggled to control the Seleucid Empire
and failed. Born about 280 b.c.e. to Arsinoe I and
Ptolemy II Philadelphus, in 252, she became the
pawn in a dynastic marriage arrangement between
Ptolemy and the Seleucid Antiochus II. With a
dowry so large that she was referred to as "Dowry
Bearer" (Phernophorus), Ptolemy hoped her mar-
riage would neutralize Antiochus as he pursued war
against Antigonus Gonatus in Macedonia.
Berenice's dowry probably encompassed the ter-
ritory Ptolemy had previously captured from
Antiochus. Since she was almost 30, it was said
that Ptolemy also sent jars of Nile water to encour-
age her fertility. Despite wealth and the birth of a
son, the union was no bargain for Antiochus or the
Seleucids. The marriage opened a conflict between
Berenice and Laodice I, Antiochus's first wife,
whom he had repudiated as a condition for the
alliance with Berenice.
The women's conflict rent the empire. Laodice,
with whom Antiochus had had four children,
moved herself and her family from Antioch to
Ephesus. Henceforth, both cities served as capitals
of the empire. In 251, after Antiochus assured Ber-
enice that her infant son would be his heir, he
returned to Laodice and declared the latter's 20-
year-old son his successor. Antiochus promptly
died.
Berenice, who remained in Antioch, charged
that Laodice had poisoned Antiochus and pressed
the claims of her son. A number of cities in Syria,
including Antioch, supported her. She also
appealed for aid to her father, Ptolemy II. Her
message reached Egypt shortly after her father's
death. Her brother, Ptolemy III Euergetes, sent a
fleet to aid her.
Laodice bribed the chief magistrate of Antioch
to kidnap Berenice's son. Berenice pursued the
kidnappers in a chariot, striking the chief magis-
trate with a spear and killing him with a stone. The
child, however, was dead. Berenice appealed to the
people. The magistrates who had colluded in the
murder became fearful. They produced a child
whom they claimed was Berenice's son, but they
refused to release him to Berenice.
Berenice moved into a palace in Daphne, a sub-
urb of Antioch, guarded by Galatian soldiers and
her women retainers and supporters. In 246, assas-
sins sent by Laodice attacked and murdered Ber-
enice, despite the efforts of the women to shield
her with their bodies. As a final note, although her
brother's fleet arrived too late to save her, her
retainers concealed her death until his arrival and
thereby enabled her brother to rally to his side all
those in Syria who supported Berenice, precipitat-
ing the Third Syrian War (246-241 b.c.e.).
Sources
Appian. Syrian Wars 65.
Justin. Epitome 27 M, 4.
Polyaenus. Strategemata 8.50.
Valerius Maximus. Factorum et dictorum memorabilium
libri 7X9.10.1.
Bevan, Edwyn B. The House of Selecus. 2 vols. London:
Edward Arnold, 1902, pp. 181 ff.
Cary, M. A History of the Greek World from 323 to 146 B.C.
London: Methuen, 1951, pp. 86-88.
Macurdy, Grace. Hellenistic Queens. Reprint. Chicago: Ares
Publishers, 1985, pp. 87 ff.
Oxford Classical Dictionary, ed. by Simon Hornblower and
Antony Spawforth. 3d. ed. New York: Oxford Univer-
sity Press, 1996, p. 239.
Pomeroy, Sarah B. Women in Hellenistic Egypt. New York:
Schocken, 1984, pp. 14, 17.
Pauly, A., G. Wissowa, and W. Kroll. ReaTEncyclopadie
d. Classischen Altertumswissenschaf 1893— (Germany:
multiple publishers) 10.
[a] Bilistiche
(third century b.c.e.)
Greek or Phoenician: Egypt
self-made woman
Bilistiche's background is uncertain. Her beauty
and astuteness, however, are well attested. She had
59
Blaesilla
once been a slave brought to Alexandria. Described
as an Argive freedwoman much sought after by
men, her name suggests she may have been Mace-
donian or Phoenician in origin or ancestry.
She grew rich and famous as the favored lover
of Ptolemy II Philadelphus. She was the First
woman of her background to sponsor horses in the
Olympic games. Her horses won the four-horse
chariot race in 268 b.c.e. and the two-horse race at
the next festival. She managed her wealth well.
There is a record of her having made a loan in 239
or 238 when she was well into old age.
Among other honors, she was appointed to an
eponymous priesthood, and Ptolemy II dedicated
shrines and temples to Aphrodite in her honor.
The date of her death is not known.
Sources
Athenaeus. Deipnosophistae 13.596.
Plutarch. Moralia: Amatorius 753f.
Harris, H. A. Sport in Greece and Rome. Ithaca, N.Y.: Cor-
nell University Press, 1972, pp. 178-79.
Pomeroy, Sarah B. Women in Hellenistic Egypt. New York:
Schocken, 1984, pp. 53-55.
(U Blaesilla
(c. 383-c. 384 c.e.)
Christian ascetic
Roman: Rome
Blaesilla embraced an ascetic regime that killed her.
Her mother, Paula the Elder, was a leader in the
new movement of Christian monasticism. Blaesil-
la's family reached back to the esteemed Cornelia
(2) and the famed Scipio in the second century b.
c.e. Her father was the Roman senator, Toxotius,
from a well-established Greek family. She had three
sisters and a brother. Paulina and Rufina died
young, and the third, Eustochium, followed her
mother to Palestine where they founded a monas-
tery and worked with the eminent ascetic Jerome to
translate the Bible from Greek to Latin. Her brother
remained in Rome, married, and his daughter, the
younger Paula, succeeded her grandmother and
aunt as director of the monastery.
Blaesilla's mother was influenced by her friend,
Marcella, and the spreading news of monastic
life in Egypt. The women altered their personal
demeanor and urban households to conform to a
life of rigorous prayer, study, and chaste widow-
hood. Paula encouraged her youngest daughter
Eustochium to join them and sent her to live with
Marcella, who had gained a reputation as a Chris-
tian teacher.
Paula discouraged her other children from fol-
lowing her lifestyle. Her daughter Rufina died after
she had been betrothed and Paulina married, but
died in childbirth. Blaesilla also married. She
became a widow less than a year later. Before her
marriage, she enjoyed the luxuries afforded the
daughter of a very wealthy Roman patrician fam-
ily. She loved clothing, makeup, and extravagant
hairstyles. She surrounded herself with soft silks
and pillows. However, she became seriously ill
after the death of her husband. When she recov-
ered, she rejected any proposal to remarry, despite
the urging of her mother, and began to adopt an
increasingly severe and disturbing daily regime.
Blaesilla fasted frequently, ate sparingly, dressed
in the simplest coarse dark clothing, eschewed
ornaments, and spent most of her time reading
religious texts and praying. Her austerity was so
severe that it aroused criticism as inappropriate
fanaticism from Christians and pagans alike. Her
regime also took its toll on her body. Dressed in
clothing no better than that of a slave, she was pale
and could barely stand upright or walk, but, how-
ever weak, she always had a Christian text in her
hand.
Her piety won Jerome's praise and increasingly
distressed more moderate Christians around her.
The personal, as well as social and economic bene-
fits, to the community from marriage, children,
and family were of lesser value for Jerome than the
individual quest for salvation. He viewed lifelong
virginity as women's greatest virtue, followed by a
prayerful and celibate widowhood as a poor sec-
ond. His asceticism, which rejected cleanliness, the
comforts and pleasures of well-made clothing, and
good food in favor of fasting and uncomfortable
drab clothing, elevated the value of bodily suffer-
ing and prayer. It was an inversion of good and bad
that appeared abnormal and often abhorrent to
pagans and many Christians. Even among those
60
Busa
Christians who admired the ascetic self-discipline,
few chose to join.
Blaesilla, still in her 20s, died. At the funeral,
her mother, Paula, fainted from the taunts of dem-
onstrators blaming her for her daughters extreme
lifestyle. Jerome also received his share of the
blame. He wrote a letter to Paula, which expressed
his sadness at Blaesillas death and that ascetics, like
him, were not welcome by the larger Roman Chris-
tian community. They blamed men like him for
misleading women like Blaesilla and for her death
from fasting.
In 385, not long after Blaesillas death, Paula
and Eustochium, along with an entourage, left
Rome to join Jerome in Jerusalem.
Sources
Jerome. Letters XXXVIII, XXXIX., xxxiv, xxii.
Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire. Vol. I. Edited by
A. H. M. Jones, J. R. Martindale, and J. Morris. Cam-
bridge: Cambridge University Press, 1971. Reprinted
1992, p. 162.
McNamara, Jo Anne. "Cornelia's Daughters: Paula and
Eustochium," Women's Studies (1984), 11.9-27.
Boudicca
(first century c.E.)
ruler
Celtic: Britain
Boudicca led a revolt of the Iceni in East Anglia
against the Roman settlements in Britain. She was
the wife of Prasutagus, whom the Romans had
made a client-king. He died in 59 or 60 c.e., and
in his will he named the emperor Nero coheir with
Boudicca and her daughters in the hope that this
would insure the stability of his lands and his
family.
His effort was in vain. Roman imperial agents
whipped Boudicca and raped her daughters. They
pillaged the lands of the Iceni and confiscated
estates of prominent families. Heavy Roman taxa-
tion, complicated by the harsh demands of money
lenders who supplied the silver and gold against
the security of land, caused others to ally them-
selves with the Iceni.
Led by Boudicca, the Iceni, assisted by the Tri-
novantes, revolted in 60 c.e. A large woman with
long tawny hair flowing down to her hips, a harsh
voice, and blazing eyes. She held a spear ready while
leading her troops into battle, and she terrified the
Romans. Her forces plundered the Roman strong-
holds at Colchester, Verulamium, and London.
In time, she was defeated by a large and orga-
nized Roman force and she committed suicide.
Damned with faint praise, the ancients wrote that
she possessed greater intelligence than most
women.
Sources
Dio Cassius. Roman History 62.1—12.
Tacitus. Agricola 16.1—2.
Tacitus. Annates 14.31-37.
Dudley, Donald R., and Graham Webster. The Rebellion of
Boudicca. New York: Barnes and Noble, 1962, passim.
Oxford Classical Dictionary, ed. by Simon Hornblower and
Antony Spawforth. 3d. ed. New York: Oxford Univer-
sity Press, 1996, p. 256.
Busa
(third century b.c.e.)
patriot
Roman: Italy
Busa was a woman of unknown background and
great wealth. In 216 b.c.e. she resided in Canus-
ium, the town in Apulia to which the Roman gen-
eral Publius Cornelius Scipio retreated in disarray
with some 10,000 soldiers after their devastating
defeat by Hannibal at Cannae.
Townspeople provided shelter for the fleeing
soldiers. To regroup, Scipio needed more than
shelter; Busa gave him food, clothing, and finan-
cial support, providing the means to raise new sol-
diers and rearm. Busa was honored by the Roman
Senate at the end of the war.
Sources
Livy. From the Founding of the City 22.52.7; 54.1—3.
Valerius Maximus. Factorum et dictorum memorahilium
libri 1X4.8.2.
Bauman, Richard A. Women and Politics in Ancient Rome.
London: Routledge, 1994, p. 23.
61
c
[b] Caecilia
(first century c.E.) Roman: Italy
mother of Pliny the Younger
Caecilia was with her son in Misenum on the Bay
of Naples when Mount Vesuvius erupted in August
79 c.e. She begged her son to leave her, but the 1 8-
year-old Pliny refused. Together they walked out
of the town. Both escaped unharmed.
Caecilia was a member of the Plinii, a provin-
cial family that was wealthy and well connected.
Her husband owned estates in Comum (Como).
Widowed when her son was still young, there is no
indication that she married again. Her son was
adopted by his uncle, Pliny the Elder, a famous
writer and naturalist. The elder Pliny stayed too
long to observe the eruption of Mount Vesuvius
and was killed.
Sources
Pliny the Younger. Epistulae 6.20.
Caecilia Metella (I)
(second-first century b.c.e.)
power broker
Roman: Rome
Caecilia Metella was a widow already 50 years old
when she married Lucius Cornelius Sulla. It was
the marriage of the Roman social season. She
gained a political husband on the way up; he
gained a wife with wealth and connections. The
subsequent years may well have been more difficult
and bloody than she had anticipated; however,
only death ended their relationship.
Sulla was not her first husband. Born into the
Metelli clan, her relatives held the office of consul
or censor and celebrated triumphs 12 times within
a 12-year period. Her father was Lucius Caecilius
Metellus Delmaticus, consul in 1 19 b.c.e. Her first
husband, Marcus Aemilius Scaurus, was wealthy, a
consul, and a princeps senatus, the senior member
of the Senate. They had three children, including
Aemelia (2). Caecilia Metella married Sulla in 88
b.c.e., after the death of Scaurus. With the support
of the Metelli, the 50-year-old Sulla became consul
in the same year. She was his fourth wife, and as
with his earlier marriages, he had married her to
forge an alliance with her influential and wealthy
family. With Sulla she had twins: Faustus Corne-
lius Sulla and Fausta.
When Lucius Cornelius Cinna seized control of
Rome in 87 and ordered Sulla removed from his
command, Caecilia Metella escaped from Rome
with her children and a year later, in 86 joined
Sulla in Greece. Although their property in Rome
was attacked and their houses burned, Sulla refused
to accept Cinnas authority. They returned to Italy,
62
Caenis Antonia
and Sulla's army defeated the opposition forces. He
entered Rome victorius. In 82 he was elected
dictator.
Caecilia Metella did not live long after his vic-
tory. She died from an illness that Sulla may have
transmitted to her and that was sufficiently conta-
gious for the priests to have forbidden him to be
with her or to have her funeral in the house. To
avoid ritual contamination, to observe the strict
letter of the law, and perhaps to satisfy his own
fears, he transported her to a neutral house and
divorced her posthumously. Her funeral, however,
allowed no misunderstanding of his feelings. Ignor-
ing his own recent funerary law, he spared no
expense on her burial.
Sources
Plutarch. Vitae Parallelae (Parallel Lives): Sulla 6.10-12;
22.1; 35.1-2.
Oxford Classical Dictionary, ed. by Simon Hornblower and
Antony Spawforth. 3d. ed. New York: Oxford Univer-
sity Press, 1996, p. 267.
Pauly, A., G. Wissowa, and W. Kroll. Real-Encyclopadie
d. Classischen Altertumswissenschaft 1893— (Germany:
multiple publishers) 134.
Syme, Ronald. The Roman Revolution. London: Oxford
University Press, 1963, pp. 20, 31.
Caecilia Metella (2)
(second-first century b.c.e.)
political player
Roman: Rome
Caecilia Metella, born into one of Rome's wealthi-
est and most illustrious families, died with an
unsavory reputation. Her father was Lucius
Metellus Calvus, consul in 142 b.c.e., and her hus-
band was Lucius Licinius Lucullus, praetor in 104.
Her husband was convicted of bribery, and she was
reputed to be promiscuous.
She had two sons. The eldest, Lucius Licinius
Lucullus, supported and served under the general
Lucius Cornelius Sulla. He was an excellent soldier
and administrator and served as consul in 74. The
younger son was Marcus Terentius Varro Lucullus,
consul in 73.
Sources
Plutarch. Vitae Parallelae (Parallel Lives): Lucullus 1.
[b] Caedicia
(first century c.e.) Roman: Rome
possible conspirator
Caedicia was exiled from Italy without a trial in
the aftermath of the Pisonian conspiracy against
the emperor Nero in 65 c.e. Her husband, Flavius
Scaevinus, was the conspirator designated to stab
Nero. Scaevinus was a man of senatorial rank
whose mind was said to have been destroyed by
debauchery. He was betrayed by a servant. The
exact role played by Caedicia in the conspiracy is
unclear.
Sources
Tacitus. Annates 15.49, 53-55, 70-71.
[b] Caenis Antonia
(?— 75 c.e.) Roman: Rome
self-made woman
Caenis Antonia spanned the decades from Julio-
Claudian rule to the Flavians. She was a mature
woman when she became the lover of the future
emperor Vespasian. Earlier, in 31 c.e., she was a
freedwoman secretary of the younger Antonia,
and it was she who was said to have carried the let-
ter from Antonia to the emperor Tiberius describ-
ing the treachery of the emperor's confidant Lucius
Aelius Sejanus. When Antonia demanded that
Caenis Antonia destroy the message about Sejanus
after Tiberius had the information, she was said to
have responded that she could not erase her
memory.
Caenis Antonia and Vespasian became lovers
during the lifetime of his wife, Domitilla Flavia
(i). After her death, they lived as husband and
wife. She was a woman reputed to like money and
power. During her years with the emperor Vespa-
sian, she acquired vast sums by selling state priest-
hoods and offices including positions as governor,
general, and procurator. She died in 75 c.e.
Sources
Dio Cassius. Roman History 64.1—4.
Suetonius. The Lives of the Caesars: Vespasian 3.
Balsdon, J. P. V. D. Roman Women. New York: John Day
Comp., 1963, p. 131.
63
Caesaria
Pauly, A., G. Wissowa, and W. Kroll. Real-Encyclopadie
d. Classischen Altertumswissenschaft 1893— (Germany:
multiple publishers) 126.
[b] Caesaria
(?— 556 c.e.) Roman: Syria, Alexandria
devout Christian
After she was widowed, Caesaria founded a mon-
astery where she wanted to live out her life. It was
near Alexandria in Egypt. Her husband's name is
unknown. However, she had connections with the
imperial family in Constantinople, possibly
through Anastasius I, emperor in the West, who
came from Samosata on the Euphrates. At some
point in her life, she received the honorary title
patricia, usually given by the emperor for services
rendered. She evidently was quite wealthy. As was
not unusual in the East, she was a Monophysite,
which in the debate of the times about the nature
of Christ, placed her politically as well as theologi-
cally in the camp with the Augusta Theodora,
who actively sought to spread the Monophysite
doctrine in the East.
She corresponded with Severus, bishop of
Antioch, the leading theologian of the Monophy-
sites. The monastery she founded appeared to have
separate quarters for men and women. She lived in
the monastery for some 1 5 years until she died.
Sources
John ofEphesus. Vitae Sanctorum Orientalium 54—56.
John of Niku. The Chronicle of John ofNiku 90.13; 1 16.6.
Severus of Antioch. Letters.
Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire. Vol. II. Edited by
A. H. M. Jones, J. R. Martindale, and J. Morris. Cam-
bridge: Cambridge University Press, 1971. Reprinted
1992, pp. 248-249.
Calpurnia (I)
(first century b.c.e.)
wife of Julius Caesar
Roman: Rome
Calpurnia married Gaius Julius Caesar in 59 b.c.e.
to cement an alliance between Caesar and her
father, Lucius Calpurnius Piso Caesoninus, consul
in 58. She was 18 years old and Caesars third wife.
She remained attached to Caesar even as he
contemplated a marriage with the daughter of
Mark Antony in 53. She warned him against going
to the Senate on the fateful Ides of March 44 b.c.e.
After his assassination, she turned his papers over
to Mark Antony along with a large sum of money.
Sources
Plutarch. Vitae Parallelae (Parallel Lives): Caesar 63.
Suetonius. The Lives of the Caesars: Caesar 21; 81.
Oxford Classical Dictionary, ed. by Simon Hornblower and
Antony Spawforth. 3d. ed. New York: Oxford Univer-
sity Press, 1996, p. 279.
Pauly, A., G. Wissowa, and W. Kroll. Real-Encyclopadie
d. Classischen Altertumswissenschaft 1893— (Germany:
multiple publishers) 279.
Calpurnia (2)
(first century c.e.)
self-made woman
Roman: Rome
Calpurnia revealed to the emperor Claudius the
scandalous behavior of his wife Valeria Messal-
lina and her lover Gaius Silius. Calpurnia was one
of Claudius's two favorite freedwomen. Bribed
with promises of gifts and influence by Messallina's
political enemy Narcissus, the powerful freedman
secretary of the emperor, Calpurnia described the
mock marriage that had taken place between Mes-
sallina and Silius. Claudius had both Messallina
and Silius put to death in 48 c.e.
Sources
Tacitus. Annales 1 1.29-30.
Levick, Barbara. Claudius: The Corruption of Power. New
Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 1993, p. 67.
Calpurnia (3)
(first-second century c.e.)
wife of Pliny the Younger
Roman: Rome
Calpurnia married Pliny the Younger after the
death of his second wife in 97 c.e. Her grandfa-
ther, Calpurnius Fabatus, and Pliny both came
from Comum. Pliny described Calpurnia to her
aunt, Calpurnia Hispulla, in rapturous terms.
He praised Calpurnia's discerning interest in his
books and writings. She was supportive when he
64
Calvina
was involved with a case and glad to have his com-
pany when he was free. She was, he claimed, an
ideal woman.
Calpurnia had a miscarriage and went to Cam-
pania to recover. Pliny waited for her letters and
begged her to write as often as twice a day. Her
husband attributed her miscarriage to her youthful
ignorance of the hazards of pregnancy. Calpurnia
accompanied Pliny to Bithynia-Pontus in north-
west Asia Minor, where he had been sent by the
emperor Trajan in 1 10 to reorganize the disorderly
province. She returned to Italy on news of the
death of her grandfather.
Sources
Pliny the Younger. Epistulae 4.19; 6.4, 7; 7.5; 8.10, 11, 19;
9.36; 10.120.
Oxford Classical Dictionary, ed. by Simon Hornblower and
Antony Spawforth. 3d. ed. New York: Oxford Univer-
sity Press, 1996, p. 279.
Pauly, A., G. Wissowa, and W. Kroll. Real-Encyclopadie
d. Classischen Altertumswissenschaft 1893— (Germany:
multiple publishers) 130.
[b] Calpurnia Hispulla
(first-second century c.e.) Roman: Italy
woman of means and character
Calpurnia Hispulla was a close friend of Pliny the
Younger and his family, especially his mother, Cae-
cilia. Although they owned estates in different
parts of Italy, her father, Calpurnius Fabatus, had
been born in Comum, the same town that was the
home of Pliny's family. She raised her niece,
Calpurnia (3), who at a relatively young age
became Pliny's third wife. Pliny attributed many of
the qualities of his wife's character to the influence
of Calpurnia Hispulla.
Sources
Pliny the Younger. Epistulae 4. 1 9; 8. 1 1 .
[b] Calvia Crispinilla
(first century c.e.) Roman: Rome
political survivor
Calvia Crispinilla prospered by pandering to the
tastes of the times. Her lineage is unknown, but
she lived within the imperial circle under Nero,
survived the transition to the Flavians, and died a
rich old woman. During the reign of Nero, Calvia
arranged entertainments, apparently lascivious in
nature. Under her care was the young Greek
eunuch Sporus, who resembled Nero's wife Pop-
paea Sabina (2), whom he had killed in a fit of
anger.
Calvia joined the conspiracy against Nero. She
encouraged Lucius Clodius Macer, the governor in
Africa, to revolt in 68 c.e. and supported his policy
of cutting off the corn supply to Rome. Despite
her visibility, she avoided retribution after Clodius
Macer was killed by orders of Servius Sulpicius
Galba, who supplanted Nero. She was said to have
used her popularity to secure a husband behind
whose propriety she could stand invisible.
Calvia managed to survive the reigns of Galba,
Otho, and Vitellius and to become richer with
each regime. As time passed, her wealth and the
absence of any children as heirs made her very
attractive to men whose fortunes had waned or
been lost, as well as to all other kinds of adventur-
ers and fortune hunters. She was courted until she
died.
Sources
Dio Cassius. Roman History 62.12.3—4.
Tacitus. Historiae 1.73.
Charles-Picard, Gilbert. Augustus and Nero: The Secret of the
Empire. Trans, by Len Ortzen. New York: Thomas Y
Crowell Comp., 1965, p. 162.
Calvina
(first-second century c.e.)
financial head of household
Roman: Italy
Calvina settled her father's estate and faced insol-
vency. Her father was C. Plinius Calvinus, part of
the Plinii, a well-known provincial landowning
family whose most famous members were the nat-
uralist Pliny the Elder and his letter-writing
nephew Pliny the Younger.
Calvina's father had left his estate encumbered
and Calvina strapped for cash to meet the out-
standing notes. She wrote Pliny the Younger about
the situation. Although not fully knowledgeable of
65
Cannutia Crescentina
the total encumbrances on the estate, Pliny agreed
that Calvina might have no choice but to sell land.
If, however, he was the only creditor or the princi-
pal one, he would surrender his claim and consider
the 100,000 sesterces that he had loaned her father
a gift. Pliny also surrendered claim to a second
100,000 sesterces raised by her father for her
dowry.
Pliny encouraged Calvina to accept his offer
and protect her father's memory. As a friend, he
would not her father's memory sullied by his hav-
ing died insolvent. He assured her that the gift
would not leave him in straitened circumstances;
although his fortune was small, his expenditures
were similarly restricted.
Sources
Pliny the Younger. Epistulae 2.4.
Pauly, A., G. Wissowa, and W. Kroll. Real-Encyclopadie
d. Classischen Altertumswissenschaft 1893— (Germany:
multiple publishers) 5.
[b] Cannutia Crescentina
(?— 213 c.e.) Roman: Rome
priestess
Cannutia Crescentina was one of four Vestal Vir-
gins condemned in 213 c.e. for violating the vow
of chastity. The Vestal Virgins guarded the flame of
Vesta in one of the oldest temples in the Forum.
In earlier times pollution among Vestal Virgins
was believed an ill omen for the city. By the third
century c.e., these old beliefs had declined or given
way to new kinds of religious experience. None-
theless, the power of tradition and the historical
association between the chastity of the Vestal Vir-
gins and the well-being of Rome exceeded the life
of the ancient religious belief and maintained a
hold over the imagination of Rome.
Crescentina was convicted with Aurelia
Severa, Clodia Laeta, and Pomponia Rufina
and condemned to die in the ancient rite of being
buried alive. She, however, committed suicide by
jumping off the roof of her house.
Sources
Dio Cassius. Roman History 78.16.1-3.
Cartimandua
(first century c.e.)
ruler
Brigantian: Britain
Cartimandua led the Brigantes, the most populous
tribe in Britain, for some 26 years, between 43 and
69 c.e. The last surviving member of the family
who had traditionally led the tribe, she negotiated
a treaty with the emperor Claudius to become a
client state. The treaty brought peace to the north-
ern border of Roman Britain and prosperity to the
Brigantes for the six years.
Her alliance with the Romans, however, was
controversial. Venutius, her husband, favored
greater independence. There was a series of politi-
cal crises. In 51 Cartimandua turned over to the
Romans a defeated Welsh leader, Caratacus, who
had fled to the Brigantes. A quarrel ensued between
Cartimandua and Venutius. Twice between the
years 52 and 57 Rome intervened on her behalf,
and the two were reconciled.
In 69, when Cartimandua discarded Venutius
in favor of his armor-bearer, Vellocatus, whom she
made joint ruler, she effectively separated her hus-
band from his most important client-chief and
provided herself with male support more favorable
for her policy of close ties with Rome. However, in
68-69, while the Roman forces in Britain were
otherwise occupied, Venutius and his supporters
defeated Cartimandua in battle.
Rome rescued her but did not restore her to her
former position, and thereby lost the opportunity
to maintain a strong and friendly buffer state on its
northern British border.
Sources
Tacitus. Annates 12.36.
Tacitus. Historiae 3.45.
Oxford Classical Dictionary, ed. by Simon Hornblower and
Antony Spawforth. 3d. ed. New York: Oxford Univer-
sity Press, 1996, pp. 296-297.
Richmond, I. A. Journal of Roman Studies (1954): pp. 43 fF.
[b] Casta Caecilia
(first-second century c.e.) Roman: Rome
acquitted of corruption
Caecilia Casta was indicted along with her hus-
band, Caecilius Classicus, her daughter, and her
66
Castricia
son-in-law on charges of malfeasance for behavior
and acts incurred during her husband's tenure as
provincial governor in Baetica, Spain. It was quite
usual for Roman officials to augment their per-
sonal fortunes when serving abroad; it also was not
unusual for them to be sued on their return to
Rome, particularly if they had been especially ava-
ricious. Only after Rome became an empire, how-
ever, did women frequently join their husbands on
posts abroad and become subject to suit.
Castas husband died before the trial began.
Pressed by the Baeticians, the Senate voted to allow
the prosecution to proceed against Casta, her
daughter, her son-in-law, and her husband's estate.
Pliny the Younger acted for the Senate as one of
two prosecuting counsels.
There was direct evidence against Caecilius
Classicus. Letters were found among his papers
boasting of the amounts of money he had taken.
In one, addressed to a woman in Rome, he claimed
that he would return to Rome with 4 million ses-
terces. To gather evidence against Casta, the Baeti-
cians had secured the services of Norbanus
Licinianus, known as the Inquisitor for his style in
court. During the trial in 100 C.E., however, one of
the witnesses accused Norbanus of conspiring with
Casta to upset any case against her.
The disposition of the charges rested with the
Senate, and the consequences could be quite dire,
ranging from the confiscation of property to death
or exile. The Senate found the daughter and son-
in-law not guilty. Classicus's estate was stripped of
any gains, and the confiscated funds were to be
divided among the victims. Any payments made to
creditors in the period since the end of his gover-
norship were similarly to be returned. His residual
estate, which consisted mostly of his debts, was
awarded to his daughter.
Much to Pliny's disgust, Casta was found not
guilty. Since her daughter, not she, was the residual
legatee, she escaped unscathed, not even responsi-
ble for the unpaid debts on her husband's estate.
Norbanus, however, was found guilty of colluding
with Casta and was exiled.
Sources
Pliny the Younger. Epistulae 3.9.
Marshall, A. J. "Women on Trial before the Roman Sen-
ate." Classical Views 34 (1990): pp. 333-366.
Castricia
(?— fifth century C.E.)
political player
Roman: Constantinople
Castricia was one of Augusta Aelia Eudoxia's close
friends. She was also friends with Marsa and
Eugraphia, two women of similar class and
wealth. Their friendship became a political alliance
on more than one occasion.
Her husband, Saturninus, who held the office
of Master of the Soldiers, was one of several offi-
cials surrendered by the emperor Arcadius to
appease the Goth leader Ganais when he was
poised to invade the city in 399. Saturninus
awaited execution, when John Chrysostom, bishop
of Constantinople, interceded and successfully had
his sentence commuted to exile.
Whatever goodwill Castricia held for the bishop
was obliterated in 403. Chrysostom, never the
most politic of men, attacked rich older women
who tried to make themselves look younger and
more attractive with makeup and elaborate hair-
styles that included paste-on curls. He compared
their appearance with streetwalkers. Castricia took
the attack personally and regarded it as a covert
assault on the power women exercised in the city
and at the palace. With her women friends she
went to Eudoxia. Persuaded by them that Chrysos-
tom held misogynistic views rooted in the original
sin of Eve and that he was dangerous to the collec-
tive interests of wealthy and powerful women in
the city, she led the attack to have him removed.
Chrysostom was a complicated man who was
genuinely troubled by the extraordinary wealth of
a few when most were in want. He also had ambiv-
alent views about women. He proclaimed from the
pulpit that they did not belong in the public
sphere, even though he had close relationships
with some women of wealth and power in the city.
He maintained a lifetime correspondence with
Olympias (3), who he met while bishop. Salvina,
who was a part of the intimate imperial circle,
was also among the few to whom he revealed his
67
Celerina, Pompeia
intention to leave the city before it was publicly
announced. A nuanced appreciation of Chrysos-
tom's attitude and relationships with women, how-
ever, was not the way of Constantinople politics.
The Augusta and her friends successfully forced
him to resign.
Sources
Palladius. The Lausiac History p. 25.
Socrates. Historia Ecclesiastica 6.6. 8—12.
Sozomen. Historia Ecclesiastica 8.4 4—5.
Zosimus. New History 5.18 6—8.
Brill's New Pauly: Encyclopedia of the Ancient World: Clas-
sical Tradition. Edited by Manfred Landfester, in col-
laboration with Hubert Conick and Helmut Schneider.
Boston: Brill, 2006. Vol. 1.
Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire. Vol. II. Edited by
A. H. M. Jones, J. R. Martindale, and J. Morris. Cam-
bridge: Cambridge University Press, 1971. Reprinted
1992, p. 271.
Celerina, Pompeia
(first-second century C.E.)
friend and wealthy mother-in-.
Younger
Roman: Rome
w of Pliny the
Pompeia Celerina, the daughter of Pompeius Celer,
was a wealthy woman. She married twice. Her
daughter was the second wife of Pliny the Younger.
The daughter died about 97 c.e., but Celerina and
Pliny remained friends. He was probably closer to
her age than that of her daughter.
Celerina owned several villas in Umbria and
Perusia. Pliny considered the purchase of a nearby
estate. The price was 3 million sesterces. Somewhat
strapped for cash since his wealth was chiefly in
land, he planned to borrow from Celerina. He felt
quite comfortable using her money as if it were his
own. Celerina, in turn, used Pliny's connections
with the emperor Trajan. She requested the
appointment of her kinsman, Caelius Clemens, to
a proconsulship.
Sources
Pliny the Younger. Epistulae 1.4; 3.19; 10.51.
Pauly, A., G. Wissowa, and W. Kroll. Real-Encyclopadie
d. Classischen Altertumswissenschaft 1893— (Germany:
multiple publishers) 126.
Chaerestrate
(fourth century b.c.e.)
mother of Epicurus
Greek: Samos
Chaerestrate was the mother of Epicurus, the
famous philosopher and founder of one of the
great ancient schools of philosophy. Her husband
was Neocles, an Athenian schoolmaster, who
immigrated to Samos, an island off the west coast
of Asia Minor. Possibly, she read charms for
people.
Chaerestrate had four sons. Epicurus was born
in 341 b.c.e. The others, whose dates are uncer-
tain, were Neocles, Chaeredemus, and Arisobulus.
Sources
Diogenes Laertius. Lives of the Eminent Philosophers
10.1-4.
Chelidon
(first century b.c.e.)
office manager
Greek: Sicily
Chelidon was of Greek origin and an associate of
Gaius Verres, praetor in 74 b.c.e. and governor of
Sicily from 73 to 71. In 70, after his return to
Rome, Verres was tried on charges of corruption
while holding the office of praetor. Marcus Tullius
Cicero, noted orator and statesman, was one of the
prosecutors.
Chelidon had already died by the time of the
trial; nevertheless, she was very much a part of
Cicero's speech to the court. Cicero disparaged her
as a meretrix, a "street-walking prostitute," and
attacked Verres for his relationship with her.
Cicero's description of her role in Verres's adminis-
tration, however, belied his disparagement. She
had her own household, and Verres used her house-
hold as his headquarters. She was surrounded by
people seeking favors, as was the praetor himself.
She was a person with whom people transacted
their business: She oversaw payments and promis-
sory notes.
In short, Cicero's description suggests she may
have been closer to Verres's office manager than a
prostitute. Chelidon also may well have had the
intelligence for business that the corrupt Verres
68
Chiomara
found useful. In a final irony, Chelidon left Verres
a legacy in her will.
Sources
Cicero. In Verrum 2.1, 120 ff., 136 ft.; 2.2, 116.
Bauman, Richard A. Women and Politics in Ancient Rome.
London: Routledge, 1994, pp. 66-67.
Hillard, Tom. "On Stage, Behind the Curtain: Images of
Politically Active Women in the Late Roman Republic."
In Stereotypes of Women in Power: Historical Perspectives
and Revisionist Views, ed. by Barbara Garlick, Suzanne
Dixon, and Pauline Allen. New York: Greenwood Press,
1992, pp. 42-45.
desertion and the politics of succession led Cle-
onymus to ally himself with Pyrrhus against Sparta
in 272 b.c.e. When an attack was imminent, Chi-
lonis was said to have kept a rope around her neck
so that she could kill herself rather than suffer cap-
ture by her former husband. Through a defense
strategy aided by the city's women, the attack on
Sparta was repelled. Chilonis was spared.
Sources
Plutarch. Vitae Parallelae (Parallel Lives): Pyrrhus 26.8-9;
27.5:28.1-3.
Chilonis (I)
(seventh century b.c.e.
heroine
Greek: Sparta
Chilonis allegedly switched places with her hus-
band to allow him to escape from prison. Chilonis
married the Spartan ruler Theopompus (720-675
b.c.e.). After Theopompus was captured by the
Arcadians, Chilonis traveled to Arcadia. Impressed
by her fortitude and audacity in undertaking such
a trip, the Arcadians allowed her to visit her hus-
band in prison. Chilonis exchanged clothes with
her husband, and he escaped while she remained
behind. Theopompus later captured a priestess of
Diana in a procession at Pheneus. He exchanged
her for Chilonis.
Sources
Polyaenus. Strategemata 8.39.
Der Kleine Pauly; Lexikon der Antike, ed. by Konrat lulius
Furchtegott and Walther Sontheimer. Stuttgart, Ger-
many: A. Druckenmuller, 1984, p. 1,146.
Chilonis (3)
(third century b.c.e.)
heroine
Greek: Sparta
Chilonis twice chose exile. She was the daughter of
the Spartan king Leonidas II, who was a foe of the
land and debt reforms initiated under his predeces-
sor, Agis IV. She married Cleombrotus, who sup-
planted her father as king and forced him into
exile. Chilonis went into exile with her father.
When her father returned and ordered Cleombro-
tus exiled in 241 b.c.e., she again went into exile,
this time with her husband.
Sources
Plutarch. Vitae Parallelae (Parallel Lives): Agesilaus 1 7 ff.
Plutarch. Vitae Parallelae (Parallel Lives): Cleomenes
38.5-12.
Mosse, Claude. "Women in the Spartan Revolutions of
the Third Century B.C." In Women's History and Ancient
History, ed. by Sarah B. Pomeroy. Chapel Hill: Univer-
sity of North Carolina Press, 1991, pp. 146, 147.
Chilonis (2)
(third century b.c.e.)
heroine
Greek: Sparta
Chilonis was willing to commit suicide rather than
fall into the hands of her ex-husband. She was the
granddaughter of a deceased ruler of Sparta and
had married Cleonymus, son of the former king of
Sparta, Cleomenes II. She was much younger than
her husband and beautiful.
After she fell in love with Acrotatus, whose
father ruled Sparta, she left her husband. Her
Chiomara
(fourth century b.c.e.)
avenger
Galatian: Asia Minor
Chiomara was the wife of Ortiagon, a chief of the
Tectosagi Gauls in Asia Minor. They were defeated
by the Romans near what is now Ankara, in Turkey.
Chiomara was taken prisoner and raped by a centu-
rion, who afterwards arranged for her ransom.
During the exchange, she instructed the Gauls
to kill the centurion. His head was cut off, and
Chiomara wrapped it in the folds of her dress.
69
Claudia (I)
When she returned to her husband, she threw the
head at his feet and revealed the rape. Chiomara
was admired for her intelligence and spirit.
Sources
Livy. From the Founding of the City 38.24.
Plutarch. Moralia: De mulierum virtutibus 22.
Polybius. Histories 21.38.
Hj Claudia (I)
(third century b.c.e.) Roman: Rome
possibly tried for treason
Claudia was born into a proud patrician family
and is remembered for her arrogance. Her father
was Appius Claudius Caecus, the famous censor of
312 b.c.e. who opened the citizen rolls to include
a far larger number of Romans and who was
responsible for building the Appian Way.
Her brother, Publius Clodius Pulcher, led a
Roman naval battle against the Carthaginians at
Drepana in 249 b.c.e. during the First Punic War.
After disparaging unfavorable omens, he suffered a
defeat and lost 93 out of 123 ships. The story is
told that before the battle when the sacred chick-
ens would not eat, he threw them into the sea, say-
ing that they could drink instead.
Claudia revealed a similar disregard for tradi-
tion. Caught amid the crowds in 246 while attend-
ing the games in Rome, she was reputed to have
said that she only wished the crowd could be put
aboard another fleet and her brother brought back
from the dead so that he could drown them all and
clear the mobs from Rome.
Romans of the third century b.c.e. did not take
such remarks lightly. Claudia was fined and possi-
bly tried for treason.
Sources
Aulus Gellius. Noctes Atticae 10.6.1.
Suetonius. The Lives of the Caesars: Tiberius 2.2-4.
Valerius Maximus. Factorum et dictorum memorabilium
libri IX 1 .4.3; 8.1 .4.
Balsdon, J. P. V. D. Roman Women. New York: John Day
Comp., 1963, p. 43.
Pauly, A., G. Wissowa, and W. Kroll. Real-Encyclopadie
d. Classischen Altertumswissenschafi 1893— (Germany:
multiple publishers) 382.
Claudia (2)
(second century b.c.e.)
reformer
Roman: Rome
Claudia was part of the movement for land reform
in the politics of Rome during the 130s b.c.e. Her
parents were Antistia (i) and Appius Claudius
Pulcher, consul in 143 b.c.e. Her sister was Clau-
dia (3). Claudia married the tribune Tiberius Sem-
pronius Gracchus. The union cemented his alliance
with her father in a coalition that supported an
agrarian law to regulate private usage of public
land and to distribute public land to the landless.
The reforms addressed the need for citizens,
especially veterans to have sufficient land to sup-
port themselves and to disperse the increasing
numbers of landless who were collecting in Rome
and transforming Roman life. The alliance of
Claudia's husband and father deeply divided her
husband's family. Although the brothers Gaius and
Tiberius Gracchus, cousins of Claudia's husband,
were in accord, their sister Sempronia (i) was
married to Publius Cornelius Scipio Aemilianus,
who bitterly opposed the land commission.
The marriage between Claudia and Tiberius
Gracchus was said to have been arranged by their
fathers over dinner. Antistia, Claudia's mother, was
furious at not being consulted. She was said to have
relented, however, since Tiberius was seen as a very
desirable "catch." (There was a similar story told
about Aemilia Tertia and her daughter Cornelia
[2] . Since Tiberius Gracchus was the son of this
same Cornelia, a remarkable women in her own
right, the story would appear to be a confusion
among a group of strong women all of whom were
kin, albeit of different generations, and all in search
of desirable marital partners for their daughters.)
Tiberius Gracchus was murdered by his cousin
Publius Cornelius Scipio Nasica. Hundreds of his
supporters were also murdered. Nothing is known
about the widowed Claudia.
Sources
Plutarch. Vitae Parallelae (Parallel Lives): Tiberius Gracchus 4.
Richardson, Keith. Daggers in the Forum: The Revolutionary
Lives and Violent Deaths of the Gracchus Brothers. Lon-
don: Cassell, 1976, pp. 41, 46.
70
Claudia (4)
Pauly, A., G. Wissowa, and W. Kroll. Real-Encyclopadie
d. Classischen Altertumswissenschaft 1893— (Germany:
multiple publishers) 385.
Pauly, A., G. Wissowa, and W. Kroll. Real-Encyclopadie
d. Classischen Altertumswissenschaft 1893— (Germany:
multiple publishers) 38.
Claudia (3)
(second century b.c.e.)
priestess
Roman: Rome
Claudia (4)
(first century b.c.e.)
political player
Roman: Rome
Claudia was a Vestal Virgin and sister of Claudia
(2). Chosen from among the very young women of
elite families, the Vestal Virgins maintained the
flame that assured the continuity and purity of the
city. They served Vesta, the goddess of the hearth.
Living in one of the oldest temples in the Forum,
their well-being was equated with the well-being of
the city. Impropriety by any one of them was an
omen of misfortune for Rome.
They were not, however, immune to the calls of
honor demanded by family. Claudia was a daugh-
ter of Antistia (i) and Appius Claudius Pulcher,
consul in 143 b.c.e. He had led an army in Cisal-
pine Gaul against the Salassi, whom he defeated at
the cost of several thousand Roman soldiers. The
Senate refused him permission to celebrate so
costly a victory with a procession in Rome. He
chose to defy the Senate and mount a triumph at
his own expense.
According to Roman tradition, a tribune could
intervene on behalf of the citizenry. In this case,
Claudia learned that a tribune would intervene
and prevent her father's triumph. She mounted
her father's chariot, threw herself into his arms,
and was carried in the procession. The sanctity of
her person protected her father from any interfer-
ence. Claudia appears to have been the first Vestal
Virgin to use her power to frustrate the will of the
Senate.
Sources
Cicero. Pro Caelio 34.
Suetonius. The Lives of the Caesars: Tiberius 2.4.
Valerius Maximus. Factorum et dictorum memorabilium
HbriIX5A,G.
Balsdon, J. P. V. D. Roman Women. New York: John Day
Comp., 1963, pp. 42-43.
Bauman, Richard A. Women and Politics in Ancient Rome.
London: Routledge, 1994, p. 47.
Claudia was a member of the family who divided
between republicans and Caesarians during the
Roman civil wars of the late first century b.c.e.
Bound together by complicated natal family ties
further entangled by marriages, divorces, remar-
riages, and love affairs, Claudia and the women of
her generation had multiple and sometimes con-
flicting allegiances.
Claudia's mother was a Servilia of the Caepio
family. Claudia's father was the unprincipled and
arrogant Appius Claudius Pulcher. Her uncle was
the notorious tribune Publius Clodius Pulcher,
and her aunt was Clodia (2), the woman Gaius
Valerius Catullus portrayed in poetry as his faith-
less lover Lesbia. Claudia was also a niece of Clo-
dia (1) and Clodia (2).
Claudia married Marcus Junius Brutus in 54 b.
c.e., and Servilia (i) became her mother-in-law.
Brutus was quaestor to her father in Cilicia in 53
and, like her father, joined the republicans under
Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus (Pompey the Great)
against Gaius Julius Caesar. In 49, the men went
with Pompey to Greece, leaving the women
behind. As the city sat poised between Ceasar and
the republicans, women such as Claudia sought to
protect family assets and to assure their family's
future, whoever the victor.
Her father died in Greece. After Caesar's defeat
of Pompey at Pharsalus in 48, Brutus accepted the
pardon offered by Caesar and assumed control
over a provincial command. However, her husband
was a complicated, even tortured and brooding,
man, who felt conflicted loyalties between his
mother, a woman of substantial power in Caesar's
camp, and his step-uncle, the republican Marcus
Porcius Cato. Brutus, against his mother's wishes,
divorced Claudia in 45. After her divorce she dis-
appeared from the historical record.
71
Claudia (5)
Sources
Pauly, A., G. Wissowa, and W. Kroll. Real-Encyclopadie
d. Classischen Altertumswissenschaft 1893— (Germany:
multiple publishers) 389.
Syme, Ronald. The Augustan Aristocracy. Oxford: Claren-
don Press, 1986, p. 198.
. The Roman Revolution. London: Oxford Univer-
sity Press, 1963, pp. 58-59.
(D Claudia (5)
(53? b.c.e.— ) Roman: Rome
political pawn
Claudia, or Clodia as she may possibly have been
called, was the stepdaughter of Mark Antony and a
niece of Clodia (i), Clodia (2), and Clodia (3).
In 43 b.c.e., when she was about 10, Antony
arranged her marriage with Octavian, the future
emperor Augustus, in order to cement the Second
Triumvirate, the alliance established that year
among himself, Octavian, and Marcus Aemilius
Lepidus.
Claudia's father was the notorious Publius Clo-
dius Pulcher, who had been killed in 52 b.c.e. by
his hated rival and political enemy Titus Annius
Milo when they passed each other on the road. Her
mother was Fulvia (2), who in 45 married Antony
and unsuccessfully undertook to protect her hus-
bands interests against the other triumvirs while he
was in the East. However, the triumvirate lasted
only for a five-year period, before the events of the
civil war overtook the accord. Octavian formally
divorced Claudia, without ever having consum-
mated the marriage, in 41 b.c.e. Although Claudia
would have reached a marriageable age anytime
after 41 or 40, with her mother dead and her step-
father deeply enmeshed with Cleopatra VII and
his new family in the East, there is no record of
marrying: She may well have died young.
Sources
Suetonius. The Lives of the Caesars: Augustus 62.1.
Balsdon, J. P. V. D. Roman Women. New York: John Day
Comp., 1963, p. 178.
Delia, Diana. "Fulvia Reconsidered." In Women's History
and Ancient History, ed. by Sarah B. Pomeroy. Chapel
Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1991, p. 202.
Pauly, A., G. Wissowa, and W. Kroll. Real-Encyclopadie
d. Classischen Altertumswissenschaft 1893— (Germany:
multiple publishers) 390.
(D Claudia (6)
(first century c.e.) Roman: Italy
member of artistic circle
Claudia had two husbands, each of whom was an
artist. Her fist husband composed poetry to music.
After his death, she married Publius Papinius Sta-
tius (c. 45-96 c.e.), who came from Naples to set-
tle in Rome where he established a reputation as a
poet.
She and Statius mingled in eminent circles and
were part of a group associated with the emperor
Domitian. Although not wealthy, Statius had suffi-
cient means to live well. His poetry addressed the
pleasant possibilities of life. In one poem he urged
Claudia to leave Rome and return with him to
Naples; in another and he praised her for nursing
him through an illness.
Claudia had one daughter with her first hus-
band, but no children with Papinius Statius.
Sources
Statius. Silvae 3.5.
Der Kleine Pauly; Lexikon der Antike, ed. by Konrat Julius
Furchtegott and Walther Sontheimer. Stuttgart, Ger-
many: A. Druckenmuller, 1984, p. 396.
Oxford Classical Dictionary, ed. by Simon Hornblower and
Antony Spawforth. 3d. ed. New York: Oxford Univer-
sity Press, 1996, p. 1,439.
[a] Claudia Pulchra
(first century c.e.) Roman: Rome
political player; exiled
Claudia Pulchra was a victim in the ceaseless
struggles for position and power during the reign
of Tiberius. She was a grandniece of Augustus and
the daughter of Messalla Appianus, consul in 12
b.c.e., and the younger Claudia Marcella,
Augustus's niece. She became the third wife of
Quinctilius Varus, who owed his career to her
connections. A military man, he ultimately suf-
fered an ignominious defeat in Germany and
72
Cleoboule
committed suicide. They had a son, also named
Quinctilius Varus.
The widow Claudia had wealth and standing.
She was a close friend of her second cousin, the
elder Agrippina, who had a high profile in the pol-
itics of the times. Agrippina opposed Tiberius,
who she believed had caused the death of her hus-
band. Her enemies became the enemies of her
friends. One of them, Gnaeus Domitius Afer,
accused Claudia in 26 c.e. of illicit relations with
an otherwise unknown man named Furnius, of
engaging in a plot to poison the emperor Tiberius,
and of using magic against the emperor. This was a
familiar triad of accusations used in political battles
of the period.
Agrippina interceded with Tiberius on Claudia's
behalf. She met Tiberius as he was sacrificing to a
statue of Augustus and demanded to know why he
would allow Claudia Pulchra to be convicted.
Claudia, she argued, was a living person, more of
an image of Augustus than any senseless statue.
She was not successful. Claudia Pulchra was con-
victed of lewdness and probably exiled. The fol-
lowing year, after brought suit against Claudia's
son, who had inherited his father's substantial
wealth. By that time, Tiberius had left Rome, and
the Senate allowed the suit to lapse.
Sources
Tacitus. Annates 4.52.
Bauman, Richard A. Women and Politics in Ancient Rome.
London: Routledge, 1994, pp. 147-149.
Levick, Barbara. Tiberius the Politician. London: Thames
and Hudson, 1976, pp. 165 ff.
Marshall, A. J. "Women on Trial before the Roman Sen-
ate." Classical Views 34 (1990): 333-366, p. 344.
Syme, Ronald. The Augustan Aristocracy. Oxford: Claren-
don Press, 1986, passim.
Cleito
(fifth century b.c.e.)
mother of Euripides
Greek: Greece
Cleito was thought to be well born. She was the
mother of the great Greek tragedian Euripides,
who was born in 485 b.c.e. Her husband was a
merchant named Mnesarchus or Mnesarchides.
Sources
Murray, Gilbert. Euripides and His Age. London: Oxford
University Press, 1965, p. 35.
[b] Cleoboule
(c. 407/400- b.c.e.-?) Greek: Athens
fraud victim; mother of Demosthenes
Cleoboule was probably an Athenian. She was
born between 407 and 400 b.c.e. Her father,
Gylon, had committed treason and fled to the Bos-
porus after being condemned to death in Athens.
After 403 b.c.e., his death sentence was commuted
to a heavy fine.
Although her father may never have returned to
Athens, he provided Cleoboule and her elder sister
Philia with substantial dowries of 5,000 drachmas.
She married a man named Demosthenes sometime
early in the 380s. He was a well-to-do Athenian
citizen; his wealth, with the exception of his house,
was not in land but in the manufacturing of cut-
lery, pursued mainly in a home factory with slave
labor.
In 358-384 or 384-383, Cleoboule gave birth
to a son, also named Demosthenes, who became
the greatest orator of Athens. She later gave birth
to a daughter. Her husband died in 377, when her
son was about seven, and her daughter, about five
years old. She was left a large estate worth nearly
14 talents, although its exact amount was kept
deliberately unclear since her husband sought to
protect his estate from any claims on her absent
father. He also left a will in which he appointed his
brother Aphobus one of three guardians of his
estate along with another brother, Demophon,
and a friend, Therippides.
Under the terms of the will, Cleoboule was to
have 8,000 drachmas to marry Aphobus. When her
daughter came of age, she was to have a dowry of
12,000 drachmas and marry Demophon. Both men
failed to fulfill the terms of the will: Aphobus did not
marry Cleoboule, and Demophon did not marry her
daughter. They did, however, embezzle the inheri-
tances of both women and, in addition, depleted the
residual estate, which was to go to Demosthenes.
73
Cleobuline
Cleoboule raised the children without adequate
resources. Their finances were so extreme that at
one time even the fees of Demosthenes' tutor were
unpaid. Her situation was further complicated by
her son's constant illnesses.
Cleoboule looked to her son to right the wrong
done them. When Demosthenes came of age, he
took the executors to court. He sued and finally
won his case after some five years of litigation. In
the end, however, the family received only a small
portion of the original estate.
Sources
Plutarch. Vitae Parallelae (Parallel Lives): Demosthenes
3.4.1-5.
Davies, J. K. Athenian Propertied Families, 600—300 B.C.
Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1971, pp. 113-141.
[b] Cleobuline
(sixth century b.c.e.) Greek: Rhodes
poet
Cleobuline wrote riddles in verse in imitation of
her father, the philosopher Cleobulus of Rhodes.
Her father advocated the education of women.
Cleobuline was a literate woman in the sixth cen-
tury b.c.e. , a time when few men and fewer women
could read or write. She was mentioned by Crati-
nus, one of the greatest poets of Old Attic comedy,
who named one of his plays after her.
Sources
Diogenes Laertius. Lives of the Eminent Philosophers
1.89.91.
Pomeroy, Sarah B. Goddesses, Whores, Wives, and Slaves:
Women in Classical Antiquity. New York: Schocken
Books, 1975, p. 56.
Cleodice
(sixth century b.c.e.)
mother of Pindar
Greek: Greece
Cleodice was the mother of the great Greek poet
Pindar. She gave birth in Boeotia, in central Greece,
in 518 b.c.e. Her husband was Daiphantus. All
that is known of her background comes from the
extant lines of Pindar's poetry, he claimed to be of
the Aegidae tribe of Sparta, which would mean
that his parents came from aristocratic families.
Sources
Herodotus. The Persian Wars 4.149.
[H Cleopatra ( I )
(fifth century b.c.e.) Greek: Macedonia
victim of family violence
Cleopatra married Perdiccas II, ruler of Macedonia
(c. 450-413 b.c.e.). Widowed with a young son in
413, she married Archelaus, her grown stepson.
Although his mother was reputed to have been a
slave, Archelaus succeeded Perdiccas and was
guardian of Cleopatra's young child — her former
husband's heir.
Archelaus was ruthless. Fearing his ward, he
pushed him into a well and was said to have
claimed that he had fallen and drowned while
chasing his pet goose. Cleopatra's fate after the
death of her son is unknown.
Sources
Aristotle. Politics 5.131b.
Plato. Gorgias 471c.
Thucydides. History of the Peloponnesian War 2.100.
Macurdy, Grace. Hellenistic Queens. Reprint. Chicago: Ares
Publishers, 1985, pp. 15-16.
Cleopatra (2)
(fourth century b.c.e.)
political player
Greek: Macedonia
Cleopatra suffered the fury of Olympias (i) after
the death of Philip II. Cleopatra was the niece of
Attalos, one of Philip's prominent Macedonian
generals. Younger than Olympias, she married
Philip II when Olympias's son by Philip, Alexan-
der the Great, was a grown man.
The enmity between the two women and their
respective supporters was already evident at Cleopa-
tra's wedding feast, which Alexander attended.
Attalos proposed a toast calling upon the Macedo-
nians to ask that the gods grant the bride and
groom a son so that there would be a legitimate
heir to the throne. Incensed at the implication,
Alexander threw a glass of wine in Attalos's face.
Philip drew his sword and made for Alexander.
Drunk, Philip tripped and fell on his face.
74
Cleopatra (3)
Cleopatra lived in Macedonia, but Olympias
and her children, including Alexander, went to
Epirus. Philip and Alexander later reconciled, and
Cleopatra gave birth to a son. After the murder of
Philip II in 336 b.c.e., however, it was Alexander,
not Cleopatra's child, who became ruler. After
Alexander established his rule, Olympias returned
to Macedonia.
While Alexander was campaigning, Olympias
killed Cleopatra's infant son and took her revenge
on the younger woman. Cleopatra either commit-
ted suicide by hanging herself or was dragged over a
bronze vessel containing charcoal until she roasted
to death. Alexander was said to have felt that the
death was too harsh. He, however, ordered her
uncle and a number of her kinsmen put to death.
Sources
Justin. Epitome 9.7, 12.
Pausanias. Description of Greece 8.7.5.
Plutarch. Vitae Parallelae (Parallel Lives): Alexander
9.6-11.
Burn, Andrew Robert. Alexander the Great and the Helle-
nistic World. London: English Universities Press, 1964,
pp. 44-45, 64.
Macurdy, Grace. Hellenistic Queens. Reprint. Chicago: Ares
Publishers, 1985, pp. 30, 32.
Tarn, William Woodthorpe. Alexander the Great. 2 vols.
Boston: Beacon Press, 1956, pp. 2-3.
[H Cleopatra (3)
(c. 354-308 b.c.e.)
Greek: Macedonia, Epirus, and Asia Minor
coruler
Cleopatra was a daughter molded by a powerful
mother. Lifetime allies, Cleopatra and her mother
Olympias (i) fought to rule Macedonia. Born in
354 b.c.e., the child of Olympias and Philip II
(359-336 b.c.e.), Cleopatra was the sister of Alex-
ander the Great. In 336, at 18 years of age, she
married her uncle Alexander I, ruler of Milossia (c.
342-330 b.c.e.) in Epirus.
Her husband was 28 years old and a notable
general. The marriage cemented the alliance
between Epirus, the center of her mother's influ-
ence, and Macedonia, ruled by her father, Philip
II. Although her father was assassinated during the
wedding celebration, her brother assumed control
over Macedonia and the alliance held. Cleopatra
remained in Epirus and gave birth to two children,
Neoptolemus and Cadmeia. Six years later, after
her husband's death in 330, she ruled in the name
of her young children along with her mother.
In 325, Olympias assumed the roles of guardian
over Cleopatra's children and regent of Epirus
while Cleopatra went to Macedonia. Alexander,
already traveling in the East, had appointed the
general Antipater ruler of Macedonia in his
absence. Olympias and Cleopatra were hostile to
Antipater, and Cleopatra sought to raise support
against him. Alexander, however, only scoffed at
Cleopatra's quest and is said to have remarked that
their mother had gotten the best of the deal: Their
mother ruled Epirus while Cleopatra was sent on a
fool's errand, since Macedonia would never accept
a woman ruler.
The death of Alexander in 323 inaugurated a
period of political turmoil. Three of Alexander's
generals, Antipater, Craterus, and Perdiccas, vied
for control of his empire, with Perdiccas in the
dominant position and Antipater in control of
Greece. Cleopatra could have chosen any one of
them as a husband, although each would have
objected to her marriage with any of the others.
Instead, she pursued a different path. Pushed by
Olympias, and with her eyes still on Macedonia,
Cleopatra invited Leonnatus, a handsome Mace-
donian general in Alexander's army who had dis-
tinguished himself in Asia, to become her husband.
Related to the ruling house and governor of Phry-
gia in Asia Minor, Leonnatus modeled himself
after Alexander. He was only too happy to accept
Cleopatra's offer, recognizing it no doubt as a step-
ping stone for both of them in pursuit of a larger
sphere of power. He died in a battle with Greek
insurgents before the marriage could take place.
With Macedonia still the sought-after prize,
and a score to settle with Antipater, Olympias and
Cleopatra upset plans for a marriage between
Nicaea (i), Antipater's daughter, and Perdiccas.
Instead, Olympias organized a marriage between
Perdiccas and Cleopatra. Cleopatra left for Sardis
in Asia Minor in 322 b.c.e.
75
Cleopatra (4)
Perdiccas evidently feared the enmity of Anti-
pater more than he desired the alliance with
Cleopatra and Olympias. He decided to marry
Nicaea. He also, however, secretly promised
Cleopatra that he would later divorce Nicaea and
marry her. News of the secret arrangement came to
the attention of Antipater and caused a permanent
breach between the two men. Cleopatra was kept
under watch in Sardis to prevent her from marry-
ing Perdiccas. Sources differ over whether or not
Perdiccas married Nicaea before his assassination
in 321.
The drama of Perdiccas, and Antipater on the
one side, and Olympias and Cleopatra on the
other was watched by other generals of the late
Alexander s army, all of whom sought their own
spheres of power. Eumenes, a Greek general, sup-
ported Cleopatra, but she prevented him from
attacking Antipater to preserve favor with the
Macedonian populace. Eumenes' death in 316 left
her without allies.
Tired of her semiconfinement in Sardis, Cleopa-
tra planned to leave for Egypt in 308 to marry
Ptolemy I Soter, one of the most successful of
Alexanders successors. With orders from Antigo-
nus, who controlled a large portion of Asia Minor,
not to allow her to leave, the commander in Sardis
arranged for a group of women to murder her.
Antigonus quickly put the women to death to hide
his involvement, and he gave Cleopatra a splendid
funeral.
Sources
Arrian. Successors 1.24, 40.
Diodorus Siculus. Library of History 16.91.3; 18.23.1—3;
20.37.3-6.
Justin. Epitome 13.6.
Plutarch. Vitae Parallelae (Parallel Lives): Alexander 68.4.
Plutarch. Vitae Parallelae (Parallel Lives): Eumenes 3.8.
Carney, Elizabeth D. "What's in a Name?" In Women's
History and Ancient History, ed. by Sarah B. Pomeroy.
Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1991,
p. 157.
Cary, M. A History of the Greek World from 323 to 146 B.C.
London: Methuen, 1951, p. 12.
Macurdy, Grace. Hellenistic Queens. Reprint. Chicago: Ares
Publishers, 1985, index.
[a] Cleopatra (4)
(first century c.e.) Roman: Rome
self-made woman
Cleopatra belonged to the group of freedmen and
women who attained power under the emperor
Claudius. She was said to be Claudius's favorite, a
position she shared with Calpurnia (2), another
freedwoman. Her access to the emperor made her
a useful ally in the intrigues of imperial life. At the
same time, access had a price, and Cleopatra
expected to retire a rich woman.
When the behavior of Valeria Messallina, the
emperor's wife, appeared to open the way for a
revival of power for the senatorial elite, the power-
ful freedmen felt threatened. Narcissus, one of
Claudius's two most important secretaries, paid
Cleopatra to vouch for Calpurnia's report that
Messallina and her lover Gaius Silius had under-
gone a marriage ceremony. If this was true, it
would mean at the least that Messallina had made
the emperor appear a fool. Possibly, it was more,
and the ceremony was the first move in a
conspiracy.
Silius and Messallina died in the wake of the
affair, and Cleopatra was all the richer from it.
Sources
Tacitus. Annales 9.30.
Cleopatra (5)
(first century c.e.)
political client
Roman: Rome
Cleopatra was a friend and client of the wealthy,
smart, and beautiful Poppaea Sabina (2), one of
the many lovers, and later the second wife, of the
emperor Nero. Cleopatra married a well-to-do
Roman businessman, Gessius Florus, from Clazo-
menae, a city on a small island off the southern
shore of the Gulf of Smyrna. She used her relation-
ship with Poppaea to secure from Nero an appoint-
ment for her husband as procurator of Judaea in
64 c.e.
Poppaea, though thought to have Jewish sym-
pathies, did the Jews no service: Cleopatra's hus-
band, Florus, was a ruthless governor.
76
Cleopatra II Philometor Soteira
Sources
Josephus. Antiquitates Judaicae (Jewish Antiquities) 20.252.
Jones, A. H. M. The Herods of Judaea, Rev. ed. Oxford:
Clarendon Press, 1967, p. 235 ff.
Oxford Classical Dictionary, ed. by Simon Hornblower and
Antony Spawforth. 3d. ed. New York: Oxford Univer-
sity Press, 1996, p. 635.
[b] Cleopatra I (The Syrian)
(c. 215-176 b.c.e.)
Greek: Asia Minor and Egypt
ruler
Cleopatra I, known as the Syrian, was the first
woman of the Ptolemaic line to act as regent for
her son and to mint coins in her own name. Born
in Syria, the daughter of Laodice III and Antio-
chus III, whose ancestor Seleucus I was a general
under Alexander the Great, she was one of three
daughters strategically married to insure her father s
alliances.
Her father had defeated Ptolemy IV Philopator
at the battle of Panium in 200 b.c.e. and regained
Coele-Syria, which he had previously lost to Ptol-
Cleopatra I (The Syrian)
(Date: 193 b.c.e.- 192 B.C.E. 1944.100.70712, Archives,
American Numismatic Society)
emy at the battle of Raphia in 217. With the
Romans on the horizon, Antiochus sought peace
on the Egyptian/Syrian border. The marriage of
Cleopatra and the future Ptolemy V Epiphanes
was arranged when they were still children.
Cleopatra and Ptolemy married at Raphia in
193. She was 22, and he was about 17. Antiochus
gave her Coele-Syria as part of her dowry, no
doubt to assuage Egyptian sensibilities. The mar-
riage was successful. Cleopatra was the bolder,
more vigorous, more ambitious, and more intelli-
gent of the two, and they shared power. After her
husband's death in 180 b.c.e., Cleopatra became
sole regent for her young son, who was about six
years old at the time. She proved to be an able
ruler. Under her rule, Egypt remained peaceful.
She discarded her husband's plan to campaign
against her brother Seleucus IV in Syria and kept
peace with both Syria and Rome.
Her two sons later ruled Egypt as Ptolemy VI
Philometor and Ptolemy VIII Euergetes II, and
her daughter, Cleopatra II Philometor Soteira,
became one of the greatest long-reigning woman
rulers of Egypt. She died in 176 b.c.e.
Sources
Josephus. Antiquitates Judaicae (Jewish Antiquities)
12.154-55.
Macurdy, Grace. Hellenistic Queens. Reprint. Chicago: Ares
Publishers, 1985, pp. 141-147.
Pomeroy, Sarah B. Women in Hellenistic Egypt. New York:
Schocken, 1984, p. 23.
Oxford Classical Dictionary, ed. by Simon Hornblower and
Antony Spawforth. 3d. ed. New York: Oxford Univer-
sity Press, 1996, p. 346.
[b] Cleopatra II Philometor Soteira
(c. 185?— 1 15 b.c.e.) Greek: Egypt
ruler
Cleopatra II was one of the ablest rulers of Helle-
nistic Egypt, ruling for 57 years. Born between 185
and 180 b.c.e., the daughter of Cleopatra I (The
Syrian) and Ptolemy V Epiphanes, she overcame
extraordinary obstacles in her quest for power.
After the death of her mother, who had been
regent for her children, Cleopatra married her
77
Cleopatra III
younger brother Ptolemy VI Philometor in 175 or
174. Two eunuchs from Coele-Syria, Eulaeus and
Lenaeus, assumed the regency for the young house-
hold. Their governance was a disaster, and they
were defeated in a battle with Cleopatra's uncle,
the Seleucid Antiochus IV. The defeated Eulaeus
persuaded Cleopatra's brother/husband, the young
Ptolemy VI, to withdraw with him to the island of
Samothrace. Her youngest brother went to Alex-
andria, where Cleopatra joined him. They were
declared joint rulers by the populace, and he took
the title of Ptolemy VIII Euergetes II.
Antiochus continued to meddle in Egyptian
affairs in an effort to exercise control. He supported
Ptolemy VI, who now resided in Memphis, and
launched an attack on Cleopatra and Ptolemy VIII
in Alexandria. Cleopatra and Ptolemy VIII sent
envoys to Rome to plead for Roman intervention.
In the meantime, Ptolemy VI, fearful of Antiochus's
intentions, contacted Cleopatra and his brother to
arrange a settlement between them. Cleopatra, the
eldest of the three, brokered a peace.
Cleopatra ruled along with her two brothers
from 170 to 164 b.c.e., after the Romans forced
Antiochus to withdraw to Syria. Cleopatra and
Ptolemy VI were supported by the powerful Jewish
community of Alexandria and put their army
under the control of two Jewish generals. A
resumption of the quarrel between the brothers,
resulted in a victory for Ptolemy VI. Cleopatra and
he ruled jointly from 164 onward, while Ptolemy
VIII withdrew from Egypt to Cyrene.
Cleopatra had four children with Ptolemy VI,
one of whom, Ptolemy Eupator, ruled jointly with
his father for a brief time. Another became Ptol-
emy VII Neos Philapator and became joint ruler
with his father in 145 and sole ruler after his father
died in battle in the same year. There were also two
daughters, Cleopatra III and Cleopatra Thea.
After the death of Ptolemy VI, Ptolemy VIII
returned to Alexandria from Cyrene, murdered the
17-year-old Ptolemy VII, and bowed to the
demands of the Alexandrians to marry his sister
Cleopatra. Cleopatra III also married Ptolemy
VIII, her uncle and her mother's second husband,
in 142, while her mother was still his wife. Furious
at this slight, Cleopatra bided her time for 10
years. Then in 132, with the support of the Jews,
she organized a revolt in Alexandria, and in 130
Ptolemy VIII fled to Cyprus.
Cleopatra III and her children went with Ptol-
emy. Cleopatra IPs four-year-old son with Ptolemy
VIII was also taken. Ptolemy murdered the boy
and sent pieces of his body packed in a hamper as
a birthday present to Cleopatra in Alexandria. A
year later, after Ptolemy VII returned to Egypt
with Cleopatra III and captured Alexandria,
Cleopatra fled to Antioch, bringing with her vast
wealth to secure support from her former son-in-
law, Demetrius II. Demetrius had been married to
her daughter Cleopatra Thea. He rose to her
defense but was killed in battle.
Cleopatra eventually returned to Alexandria
and reconciled with her brother/husband to reign
peacefully with him and with her daughter Cleopa-
tra III. Reforms were issued in the names of the
three rulers. Among these were a prohibition
against imprisonment without trial, a decrease in
taxes, improved judicial proceedings, and reforms
in housing and ownership of land.
Cleopatra died in 115 b.c.e., shortly after her
husband's death. She was more than 70 years old.
Sources
Diodorus Siculus. Library of History 33.13.1; 34.14.1.
Livy. From the Founding of the City 44.19.6—14;
45.9-13.1-9.
Polybius. Histories 28.1, 20-21.
Cary, M. A History of the Greek World from 323 to 146 B.C.
London: Methuen, 1951, p. 222.
Macurdy, Grace. Hellenistic Queens. Reprint. Chicago: Ares
Publishers, 1985, index.
Oxford Classical Dictionary, ed. by Simon Hornblower and
Antony Spawforth. 3d. ed. New York: Oxford Univer-
sity Press, 1996, pp. 346-347.
Pomeroy, Sarah B. Women in Hellenistic Egypt. New York:
Schocken, 1984.
Cleopatra III
(c. 165?-101 B.C.E.)
ruler
Greek: Egypt
Cleopatra III let no one stand in the way of her
quest for power. Her life was shaped by struggles
78
Cleopatra III
with her mother and her children to become the
dominant ruler of Egypt. Enormously wealthy, she
was the daughter of Cleopatra II Philometor
Soteira and her husband/brother, Ptolemy VI
Philometor. Born between 165 and 160 b.c.e. in
142, she became the wife of her uncle, Ptolemy
VIII Euergetes II, who was simultaneously her
mother's second husband. She was the sister of
Cleopatra Thea.
After 10 years of marriage marked by discord
between the women, Cleopatra II led a successful
revolt in 132, and Ptolemy VIII was forced to flee
Alexandria. Cleopatra III supported her husband
and fled with him to Cyprus accompanied by her
five children: Ptolemy IX Soter II Lathyrus Ptol-
emy Alexander, Cleopatra Tryphaena, Cleopa-
tra IV, and Cleopatra V Selene. They also
brought to Cyprus Ptolemy VIII's four-year-old
son from his marriage with Cleopatra II. The boy
was murdered, and parts of the body were sent to
the boy's mother in Alexandria.
In 129 Ptolemy VIII reconquered Alexandria,
and eventually both Cleopatras reconciled. Over
the next 13 years, mother and daughter ruled
together with their joint husband. In the name of
the three rulers there were reforms in the courts, in
debt, in land holdings, and in taxes. At his death in
116, Ptolemy VIII left Cleopatra III, the younger
of the two women, in control of Egypt with the
right to choose either one of her sons as coruler.
Her mother died soon after, and left her the
unchallenged ruler.
She was forced by the populace in 1 16 to name
her son Ptolemy IX Soter II as coruler instead of
the younger Ptolemy Alexander, whom she found
more pliable. She sent her younger son to Cyprus
but asserted her position by presenting her name
and image before that of her older son on official
documents and other iconography. She also made
his life miserable.
Ptolemy IX had married his sister, Cleopatra IV,
whom he dearly loved. Cleopatra found that this
daughter had a mind of her own and was not to be
dominated. In a short time, Cleopatra succeeded
in securing her son's divorce and a new marriage to
his younger sister, Cleopatra V Selene, whom she
more easily controlled. In 110, Cleopatra also
secured the agreement of Ptolemy IX to accept her
younger son, Ptolemy X Alexander I, as his joint
ruler. Soon, however, they quarreled, and Ptolemy
Alexander returned to Cyprus.
Ptolemy IX sought to counter his mother's
power by siding against the Jews, who were the
second most privileged group in Alexandria after
the Greeks and were her supporters. He received a
request from Antiochus IX Cyzicenus, his cousin
and the ruler of Antioch, for help in fighting
against the forces of John Hyrcanus, the Jewish
high priest, who was attacking the Greeks in
Samaria. Ptolemy sent 6,000 troops without tell-
ing his mother.
In 108, Cleopatra accused Ptolemy IX of seek-
ing to poison her. She incited a mob and Ptolemy
IX was driven into exile. She recalled her younger
son, Ptolemy X, from Cyprus as her coruler and
sent an army to capture Ptolemy IX. The troops,
with the exception of the Jews, revolted, and Ptol-
emy IX became ruler of Cyprus. Cleopatra put the
commander of the troops to death.
Cleopatra and Ptolemy X quarreled. In 102
b.c.e. her older son, Ptolemy IX, invaded Pales-
tine from his base in Cyprus, captured Judaea,
and advanced toward Egypt. Cleopatra collected
her grandchildren along with her will and a large
amount of treasure, which she deposited in the
temple of Aesculapius on Cos, an island off the
coast of southern Asia Minor. She then led an
army into Palestine where she halted Ptolemy's
advance. She was only dissuaded from trying to
regain Coele-Syria by her Jewish advisers, who
threatened to withdraw their support if she cap-
tured Alexander Jannaeus, the brother of John
Hyrcanus, who controlled the area. Instead, she
signed a treaty of alliance and mutual aid with
him.
Cleopatra was worshiped as Isis, the great
mother of the gods, and cults were established in
her honor. She provided funds for an expedition
by Eudoxus of Cyzicenus to India for a shipment
of precious stones and perfumes. She died at about
60 years old, before Eudoxus s return in 101. She
may have been murdered, perhaps by Ptolemy X.
79
Cleopatra IV
Sources
Josephus. Antiquitates Judaic ae (Jewish Antiquities) 13.285,
287, 328, 331, 348-55.
Livy. From the Founding of the City 14.67.
Cary, M. A History of the Greek World from 323 to 146 B.C.
London: Methuen, 1951, pp. 222-223.
Macurdy, Grace. Hellenistic Queens. Reprint. Chicago: Ares
Publishers, 1985, index.
Oxford Classical Dictionary, ed. by Simon Hornblower and
Antony Spawforth. 3d. ed. New York: Oxford Univer-
sity Press, 1996, p. 347.
Cleopatra IV
(second century b.c.e.
Greek: Egypt and Syr
insurgent leader
-ria
Cleopatra IV threatened the power of her mother
in Egypt and her sister in Syria. She was the daugh-
ter of Cleopatra III. Her father, Ptolemy VIII
Euergetes II, was also her great-uncle. She married
her brother, Ptolemy IX Soter II Lathyrus, who
became coruler with her mother after her fathers
death in 316 b.c.e.
Her mother sought to exercise control over
Ptolemy IX, who was her oldest son. In the con-
flict between mother and wife, her husband reluc-
tantly sided with his mother and agreed to reject
Cleopatra in favor of marriage with a younger sis-
ter, Cleopatra V Selene, who was more amenable
to his mothers influence. Cleopatra left Egypt for
Cyprus, where another brother, Ptolemy Alexan-
der, ruled.
Like many of the Cleopatras, Cleopatra IV had
enormous wealth. In Cyprus she raised an army
and took it to Syria. At this time the half brothers
Antiochus IX Cyzicenus and Antiochus VIII Gry-
pus were waging war against each other. Both were
first cousins of Cleopatra IV through their mother,
Cleopatra Thea, who was the sister of Cleopatra
III. Grypus was married to another of Cleopatras
own sisters, Cleopatra Tryphaena. The other half
brother was available.
In Antioch, Cleopatra offered her support to
Cyzicenus and married him. Grypus captured
Antioch and Cleopatra in 1 12 b.c.e. He might not
have murdered Cleopatra, but her sister, fearing
80
Cleopatra would seduce her husband, had Cleopa-
tra killed even though she had sought santuary in
the temple of Artemis. Later, Cleopatras husband
Cyzicenus recaptured Antioch. He had his sister-
in-law Cleopatra Tryphaena killed to appease the
spirit of his murdered wife.
Sources
Justin. Epitome 39.3.
Downey, Glanville. A History of Antioch in Syria from Seleu-
cus to the Arab Conquest. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton
University Press, 1961, p. 129.
Macurdy, Grace. Hellenistic Queens. Reprint. Chicago: Ares
Publishers, 1985.
[b] CleopatraV Selene
(c. 131/130-69 b.c.e.)
Greek: Egypt and Syria
political player
Cleopatra V Selene engaged in a series of matrimo-
nial alliances to secure a sphere of power in the poli-
tics of Egypt and Syria. She was the youngest
daughter of Cleopatra III and Ptolemy VIII Euer-
getes II, who was also her great-uncle. In 116 b.c.e.,
when she was about 14 or 15 years old, her mother
arranged her first marriage with her brother Ptolemy
IX Soter II Lathyrus, in the belief that she would be
more malleable to her mothers machinations than
his previous wife, her older sister Cleopatra IV
In 108, with the support of the Jews of Alexan-
dria, her mother incited a successful revolt to drive
Ptolemy IX Soter II from Egypt. Cleopatra
remained in Alexandria with her mother. Her
deposed husband assembled an army in Cyprus,
where he had fled. He defeated the Jewish army in
Syria and conquered Judaea. Sometime during this
period Cleopatra, who was still in Alexandria,
divorced Ptolemy IX. Threatened by his advancing
army, she left Alexandria for Syria. With her moth-
er's support, she brought troops with her and car-
ried a large dowry of treasure to Antiochus VIII
Grypus in Antioch.
Grypus was kin by a former marriage and was a
partner who could offer Cleopatra and her mother
an alternative base of power in their war against
Ptolemy. At the time, there was almost continuous
Cleopatra VII
warfare for control over the Seleucid Empire
between two half brothers, Antiochus VIII Grypus
and Antiochus IX Cyzicenus. Cyzicenus had been
married to Cleopatra IV. She had been murdered
by order of her sister Cleopatra Tryphaena, who
was Grypus's wife. To avenge the murder of Cleopa-
tra IV, Cyzicenus murdered Cleopatra Tryphaena.
Cleopatra V married Grypus, but the union was
short-lived. He was murdered in 96 b.c.e. by his
leading general, Heracleon of Beroea, during an
attempted coup. Meanwhile in Egypt, Cleopatra's
mother was murdered, possibly by one of her sons.
Cleopatra became a free agent, able to choose her
allies. She married Cyzicenus, her husband's half-
brother and bitterest enemy, who occupied Antioch
soon after her husband's death.
She was not his wife for long either. Cyzicenus
died in battle along with the eldest son of Grypus in
about 95 or 94. Antiochus X Eusebes, the son of
Cyzicenus, staked his claim for power. He con-
quered Antioch and reigned from 94 to 92. Cleopa-
tra married Eusebes, once more negotiating her
enormous wealth for political power. Although
Eusebes died fighting in 92, Cleopatra survived. She
moved to Ptolemais in Phoenicia and lived in great
luxury with her children for nearly two decades.
In 75, she sent her two sons by Eusebes to
Rome where they contested the legitimacy of Ptol-
emy XII Neos Dionysus (Auletes), son of Ptolemy
IX. The Romans refused to support their claim.
Cleopatra also sought to place her son, Antiochus
Asiaticus, in power in Syria. Tigranes I the Great of
Armenia, who controlled Syria, campaigned
against her in Phoenicia. In 69 she was captured in
Ptolemais by Tigranes, who brought her to Seleu-
ceia on the Euphrates and had her killed. Her son
ruled over Syria from 69 to 68 b.c.e. after Tigranes
withdrew from Antioch.
Sources
Appian. Syrian Wars 49.69.
Cicero. In Verrum 4.27.
Josephus. Antiquitates Judaicae (Jewish Antiquities) 13.6.5;
365, 367, 370-371.
Strabo. Geography 16.7, 49.
Macurdy, Grace. Hellenistic Queens. Reprint. Chicago: Ares
Publishers, 1985, index.
[b] Cleopatra VI Tryphaena
(?-57 b.c.e.) Greek: Egypt
coruler
Cleopatra VI Tryphaena was the daughter of Ptol-
emy IX Soter II Lathyrus. Her mother was one of
his lovers. Cleopatra married her half-brother Ptol-
emy XII Neos Dionysus (Auletes) in 80 or 79. A
weak man, Ptolemy XII's rule was challenged by
Cleopatra V Selene, who was living in Ptolemais
and looking to settle her sons by Antiochus X
Eusebus.
Cleopatra was very young when she married,
and her brother/husband was only about 1 5 when
be became ruler. Much of his time and money was
spent bribing Romans to support his claims to the
throne. The heavy taxes levied to pay for these
bribes left him highly unpopular. Rome finally rec-
ognized his rule in 59 b.c.e., after Julius Caesar,
who was consul in that year, received a large settle-
ment. When the Alexandrians threatened revolt,
Ptolemy XII went to Rome to seek support.
Cleopatra shared power with Berenice IV Cleopa-
tra in Egypt for about a year until she died in 57.
Cleopatra may have been the mother of Arsinoe
Auletes and the most famous Cleopatra, Cleopa-
tra VII. She may also have been the mother of sis-
ter of Berenice IV Cleopatra. In addition, she had
two sons, Ptolemy XIII and Ptolemy XIV
Sources
Dio Cassius. Roman History 39.12.
Macurdy, Grace. Hellenistic Queens. Reprint. Chicago: Ares
Publishers, 1985, index.
Pomeroy, Sarah B. Women in Hellenistic Egypt. New York:
Schocken, 1984, p. 24.
Skeat, Theodore Cressy. The Reigns of the Ptolemies. Munich:
Beck, 1969, p. 35.
[a] CleopatraVII
(c. 69-30 b.c.e.)
Greek: Egypt, Asia Minor, and Italy
ruler
Cleopatra VII is one of the most famous women of
history, the subject of legend and literature. A pro-
tagonist in the politics and wars that marked the
end of the Roman republic and an independent
81
Cleopatra VII
Egypt, she was courageous, intelligent, arrogant,
clever, and charming. She had a facility for lan-
guages and was possibly the only Ptolemaic ruler
who spoke fluent Egyptian. She was also extremely
rich. The last in the long line of Ptolemaic rulers,
many of whom were powerful women, she was
born in 69 b.c.e. and ruled Egypt from 51 to 30.
Ambitious for Egypt, she used Julius Caesar and
Mark Antony to solidify her rule and extend her
empire. In turn, she offered them her treasury. She
exhibited some of the characteristics of Alexander
the Great, and had Antony followed her advice,
together they might well have ruled a world
empire.
Cleopatra was the daughter of Ptolemy XII
Neos Dionysus (Auletes). Her mother's identity
has remained uncertain. The most likely candidate
is Cleopatra VI Tryphaena, who married Auletes
in 80 or 79 b.c.e. Possibly, she was the daughter of
one of Auletes' lovers. However, none of the ancient
sources, which were sometimes quite hostile toward
Cleopatra, challenged her legitimate right to rule
Egypt.
Cleopatra was 14 in 55 b.c.e. when her father
returned to power in Egypt with the support of
Rome. Ptolemy XII was a weak man who had
spent several years and a great deal of money brib-
ing Romans to support him over the objections of
the Alexandrians. He had left Egypt for Rome in
58. In his absence, the Alexandrians recognized as
joint rulers his wife Cleopatra VI Tryphaena and
Berenice IV Cleopatra, who was either the aunt,
sister, or stepsister of Cleopatra. Cleopatra VI died
a year later. Berenice IV Cleopatra ruled alone
until Auletes returned and murdered her.
Before her father died in 51, he named the 17-
year-old Cleopatra and her brother, Ptolemy XIII,
joint rulers of Egypt. Cleopatra was seven years
older than her brother; she married him within the
year. The young rulers were surrounded by three
men who expected to exercise power: Prothinus, a
court eunuch; Theodolltus, a Greek from Chios
who was Ptolemy's tutor; and Archillas, who com-
manded the army in Alexandria. Conflict was not
slow in coming. From the beginning, Cleopatra
allied herself with the Romans. In 49 she supplied
Gnaeus Pompey, the son of the republican general
Gnaeus Pompeius (Pompey the Great), with 60
ships in addition to money and supplies of corn.
The advisers, fearful that she might achieve an
Cleopatra VII and Mark Antony
(Date: 36 B.C.E. 1977.158.621, Archives, American Numismatic Society)
82
Cleopatra VII
independent basis of power supported by the
Romans, alleged that she sought to rule alone.
With the help of an Alexandrian mob, Cleopatra
was expelled from the city in 48 b.c.e. Undeterred,
she raised a mercenary army and returned to fight
her brother. In 48, Julius Caesar arrived in Egypt in
pursuit of Gnaeus Pompeius (Pompey the Great)
and found the armies of Cleopatra and her brother
arrayed against each other. Caesar sent a message to
Cleopatra encamped in Pelusium. To escape assassi-
nation, Cleopatra wrapped herself in bedclothes and
used a small boat to smuggle herself into Alexandria
to meet Caesar. She secured his support.
In an effort to appease the Alexandrians, who
were affronted by the Romans marching through
the city, and to calm conflict between Cleopatra
and her brother, Caesar read to an assembled group
of Alexandrians a copy of Auletes' will that had
been left in his care. He affirmed Auletes' instruc-
tions and made Cleopatra and her brother corulers
of Egypt under the protection of Rome.
In a further effort to assure peace within the rul-
ing clique in Alexandria, Caesar proposed that
Cleopatra's younger sister, Arsinoe Auletes, and
their youngest brother, Ptolemy XIV, leave Egypt
and become joint rulers of Cyprus. Arsinoe Auletes,
however, jealous of Cleopatra, fled to Alexandria
and joined up with the Egyptian army, which
declared her ruler. She quarreled with the general
Archillas, had him murdered, and assumed control
over the army. The mercenary army had no liking
for a woman commander and welcomed the young
Ptolemy XIII, who came from Alexandria under a
ruse of bringing the army to Caesar's side. War fol-
lowed. In 47 Caesar defeated the army and cap-
tured Arsinoe, whom he brought to Rome. Ptolemy
drowned in the Nile trying to escape.
By now Caesar had become Cleopatra's lover,
and she was pregnant with his child. Born in June
47, the child was named Ptolemy Caesar. He
became known as Caesarion. Cleopatra married her
younger brother, Ptolemy XIV, who was about 12
years old at the time, and Caesar returned to Rome
leaving Alexandria quiet and Cleopatra in power,
supported by three Roman legions. In 46 Cleopatra
joined Caesar in Rome along with her young son
and her husband, Ptolemy XIV She lived in one of
Caesar's houses and held court. After his assassina-
tion in 44, she returned to Egypt. Shortly thereaf-
ter, she had her husband poisoned and named her
son, the three-year-old Caesarion, joint ruler.
During the ensuing Roman civil war, Cleopatra
sided with the Caesarians. She supplied Publius
Cornelius Dolabella with four legions and excused
herself from helping his opponent Gaius Cassius
Longinus the Tyrannicide on the grounds that
there was famine in Egypt. After the defeat of Dol-
abella, she tried to sail with her fleet to join Mark
Antony and Octavian, but a storm destroyed many
of her ships. An illness prevented her from sailing
again, and the victory of the Caesarians made fur-
ther aid unnecessary.
In 4 1 Cleopatra was summoned by Antony to
Tarsus. Antony's mission was to consolidate power
and raise revenues to pay for the war. Cleopatra
convinced him that she had supported the Caesari-
ans, probably provided him with immediate mate-
rial aid, and successfully seduced him. Antony spent
the winter of 41—40 with her in Egypt. At her
request, he arranged for the murder of her sister
Arsinoe Auletes, who was in Ephesus and who
Cleopatra felt might be a future threat. In the
spring of 40, Antony left Egypt to return to Rome.
Between 40 and 37 b.c.e., Cleopatra remained in
Egypt. In 37 Antony was again in the East, and he
summoned Cleopatra to meet him in Antioch where
they formed an alliance. She agreed to provide him
with aid and in return received control over Coele-
Syria, Cyprus, and a part of Cilicia. Antony also
acknowledged that he was the father of their twins,
Cleopatra Selene and Alexander Helios.
In 35 OcTAViA (2), who had married Antony in
40 to seal the pact of Brundisium and who under
Roman law was still his wife, brought Antony rein-
forcements from her brother, Octavian. She came
with far fewer troops than Antony had expected
and Octavian had promised. Antony told her to
stop at Athens: The alliance with Cleopatra pro-
vided for his needs, and Cleopatra had no interest
in Octavia's presence. With Cleopatra's resources,
Antony mounted a successful eastern campaign
against the Armenians in 34. Afterward, Antony
83
Cleopatra Selene
and Cleopatra divided power. She and Caesarion
continued to be corulers of Egypt, Cyprus, Libya,
and Coele-Syria. Alexander Helios was given Arme-
nia, Media, and Parthia, and little Ptolemy Philadel-
phus, their other son, was named ruler of Phoenicia,
Syria and Cilicia. Coins were struck with Antony on
one side and Cleopatra on the other.
Cleopatra had succeeded. She was joint ruler
with the most powerful Roman in the East and had
an empire that extended well beyond her patri-
mony of Egypt. She crowned her success with mar-
riage to Antony after he divorced Octavia in 32.
Octavian declared war against Cleopatra. He
could not leave Antony and Cleopatra in control
of the East, the richer and more populous part of
the ancient Greco-Roman world. Octavian needed
the resources of the East and the corn of Egypt to
feed Rome. However, Octavian feared declaring
war directly against Antony who remained popular
among Romans, especially those in the army.
Cleopatra wanted Antony to focus on the East, but
she reluctantly supplied Antony with money, men,
and ships to fight Octavian. Antony adopted a
two-part plan in which he would proceed against
Octavian and, only if that failed, would he fall
back on extending his rule in the East.
Romans supporting Antony met with him and
Cleopatra at Ephesus. They were clear: They wanted
Cleopatra to return to Egypt. They adamantly
opposed recognizing Caesarion as the legitimate son
of Caesar and Cleopatra and as a possible coruler of
Rome. However, Cleopatra was furnishing 200 of
the 800 ships of the fleet as well as 2,000 talents.
She refused to go back to Egypt. She claimed that
the Egyptians would be insulted and that her sol-
diers would not fight. Perhaps she also feared that
Antony might be persuaded to abandon her if she
was not physically present. Antony stood by Cleopa-
tra, much to the disgust of his Roman army.
In the battle of Actium in 31 b.c.e., Antonys
Roman troops wanted the navy to attack Octavi-
an's ships. If they won, Octavian would be forced
to send his army into battle. If Octavians fleet
won, the army under Antony would withdraw to
the interior, forcing Octavian to follow. Cleopatra's
ships were stationed in the rear. Antony put trea-
sure aboard fast ships that were also stationed in
the rear. This aroused suspicion among the troops,
and some of Antonys fleet deserted him at the
beginning of the battle. Cleopatra ordered her
ships back to Egypt, and Antony, probably think-
ing that his army might desert him, abandoned the
fight, boarded a fast ship, and followed her. The
rest of his army surrendered. Antony committed
suicide before Octavian arrived in Egypt.
On August 10, 30 b.c.e., Cleopatra killed her-
self by poison from an asp rather than face being
paraded as a captive in Octavians triumph.
Sources
Appian. Roman History: Bella civilian (Civil Wars) 4.61—63,
82; 5.8-9.
Dio Cassius. Roman History 42.35 ff; 49.41.
Josephus. Antiquitates Judaicae (Jewish Antiquities) 15.4.1.
Plutarch. Vitae Parallelae (Parallel Lives): Antonius 25-29;
30; 53-86.
Plutarch. Vitae Parallelae (Parallel Lives): Caesar Ad.
Plutarch. Vitae Parallelae (Parallel Lives): Pompeius 78.
Suetonius. The Lives of the Caesars: Caesar 52.
Burnstein, Stanley M. The Reign of Cleopatra. Westport,
Conn.: Greenwood Press, 2004, passim.
Chauveau, Michel. Cleopatra: Beyond the Myth. Translated
from the French by Lorton. Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell Uni-
versity Press, 2002.
Jones, Prudence. Cleopatra: A Sourcebook. Norman: Uni-
versity of Oklahoma Press, 2006.
Macurdy, Grace. Hellenistic Queens. Reprint. Chicago: Ares
Publishers, 1985, index.
Oxford Classical Dictionary, ed. by Simon Hornblower and
Antony Spawforth. 3d. ed. New York: Oxford Univer-
sity Press, 1996, p. 347.
Pomeroy, Sarah B. Goddesses, Whores, Wives, and Slaves:
Women in Classical Antiquity. New York: Schocken
Books, 1975, pp. 187-188.
. Women in Hellenistic Egypt. New York: Schocken,
1984, index.
Syme, Ronald. The Roman Revolution. London: Oxford
University Press, 1963, index.
[b] Cleopatra Selene
(40 B.C.E.-? C.E.)
Greek: Egypt, Italy and Mauritania
coruler
Cleopatra Selene ruled the Roman client king-
dom of Mauritania with her husband, Juba. She
84
Cleopatra Thea
and her twin, Alexander Helios, were born in 40
b.c.e. to Cleopatra VII and Mark Antony. After
the battle of Actium and the death of her parents
when she was about 1 1 years old, she walked with
her brother in Octavian's triumph. Alexander
died shortly thereafter, and Octavia (2), the ex-
wife of Mark Antony, raised Cleopatra in her own
household.
In 20 b.c.e., Octavian, now Augustus, arranged
a marriage between Cleopatra Selene and Juba of
Mauritania. Juba had been paraded in a triumph
of Julius Caesar in 46 b.c.e. and, like his new wife,
had been brought up since childhood in Rome.
Augustus was fond of him and, before becoming
emperor, had granted him Roman citizenship and
had taken him on some of his campaigns.
Juba was an extraordinarily cultured man who
wrote many books, all now lost. He and Cleopa-
tra brought Roman and Greek culture to Mauri-
tania. They had a son named Ptolemy who
succeeded his father as king and ruled until 40 c.
e. He was killed on orders of the emperor Gaius
Caligula, who wanted his wealth. They also had a
daughter, Drusilla (i), who married Marcus
Antonius Felix, a freedman of the younger Anto-
nia, the mother of the emperor Claudius. As
procurator of Judaea, Felix was the judge at the
trial of St. Paul.
Cleopatra issued coins in her own name with
Greek inscriptions. Her husbands coins were in
Latin. She was the last Cleopatra, and her son was
the last royal Ptolemy. It is not known when she
died, but the iconography of her coins suggests she
might have been alive as late as 1 1 c.e.
Sources
Josephus. Antiquitates Judaicae (Jewish Antiquities) 13.420.
Josephus. Bellum Judaicum (Jewish Wars) 1.116.
Tacitus. Historiae 5.9.
Balsdon, J. P. V. D. Roman Women. New York: John Day
Comp., 1963, index.
Grant, Michael. The Jews in the Roman World. New York:
Charles Scribner's Sons, 1973, p. 159.
Macurdy, Grace. Hellenistic Queens. Reprint. Chicago: Ares
Publishers, 1985, index.
Oxford Classical Dictionary, ed. by Simon Hornblower and
Antony Spawforth. 3d. ed. New York: Oxford Univer-
sity Press, 1996, p. 347.
Roller, Duane W. The World of Juba II and Kleopatra Selene:
Royal Scholarship on Rome's African Frontier. New York:
Routledge, 2003.
[b] Cleopatra Thea
(second century b.c.e.) Greek: Egypt and Syria
cornier
Cleopatra Thea was used by her father to enhance
his power in Syria and then took control of her
own destiny and sought to find an able man to rule
the Seleucid Empire. She was the daughter of
Cleopatra II Philometor Soteira. Her father
was her mother's brother and husband Ptolemy VI
Philometor.
In 162 b.c.e., Demetrius I Soter gained control
over Syria, but he soon became unpopular. Alexan-
der Balas, an impostor who bore a remarkable
resemblance to Antiochus IV, the former ruler of
Syria, was put forward as the rightful heir. In
exchange for influence and possibly even territory,
Ptolemy VI arranged for Alexanders marriage with
Cleopatra Thea. Alexander Balas defeated Deme-
trius with support from Egypt, Pergamum, and the
Jews. He and Cleopatra Thea had a son, Antiochus.
Alexander proved to be an incompetent ruler
who immersed himself in luxurious living and
debauchery. In 147, Demetrius II, the eldest son of
the defeated Demetrius I, led an army of merce-
naries from Crete into Syria. At this point, Ptol-
emy VI quarreled with Alexander and recalled his
daughter. Cleopatra Thea then married Demetrius
II, who was several years her junior.
Alexander was defeated. Forced to flee, he took
his and Cleopatra Theas son, whom he left with
desert chiefs. Ptolemy persuaded the people of
Antioch to recognize Demetrius as ruler. Alexan-
der returned to fight Demetrius. Alexander and
Ptolemy VI died in battle.
The young Demetrius was another inept ruler.
He too became highly unpopular, blamed for the
persecution of Alexander Balas s supporters and the
cruelty of his mercenary troops. Diodotus, the gov-
ernor of Syria, gained possession of Cleopatra Theas
son, drove Demetrius from Antioch and proclaimed
little Antiochus ruler. However, Diodotus had the
85
Cleopatra Thea
Cleopatra Thea and her son Antiochus VIII Grypus
(Date: 125 B.C.E.-I2I B.C.E. 1977.158.705, Archives,
American Numismatic Society)
boy murdered a year or two later since Antiochus
was a threat to his power.
Cleopatra Thea, who had two sons with Deme-
trius, Seleucus V and Antiochus Grypus, accompa-
nied her inept husband to Seleuceia-in-Pieria, a
port city in Syria, after his defeat by Diodotus. In
139, her husband was captured by Mithradates
and the Parthians. Fearing Demetrius lost and that
Diodotus (now renamed Tryphon) might secure
his position, she invited her brother-in-law, Antio-
chus VII Sidetes from Rhodes, to Sleuceia-in-Pie-
ria to marry her and become ruler.
Sidetes accepted Cleopatra Thea's offer, was wel-
comed by the people, and proved to be an able
ruler. In 138 he defeated Tryphon, who committed
suicide. The couple returned in triumph to Antioch
and order was restored to the rest of the country.
Sidetes also reconquered Judaea. Cleopatra Thea
gave birth to a son, Antiochus Cyzicenus.
Over the next several years nothing is known
about Cleopatra Thea. Her husband, however,
campaigned against the Parthians and among them
discovered his brother Demetrius II alive. He had
become a favorite of Mithradetes, who had
betrothed him to his daughter Rhodogune. Sidetes
secured Demetrius's freedom before he died in bat-
tle in 129. Demetrius II returned to reign in Syria.
It was at this time that Cleopatra Thea's mother
Cleopatra II arrived in Antioch. She sought sup-
port from Demetrius II in her struggle with her
husband/brother Ptolemy VIII Euergetes, who was
also Cleopatra Thea's uncle. Cleopatra Thea hated
Demetrius and certainly did not welcome her
mother. Her mother, Cleopatra II, however,
brought with her enough wealth to secure coopera-
tion from Demetrius, who set out with an army to
fight for her cause. The people of Antioch revolted
as soon as he left.
Taking advantage of the situation in Antioch,
and in revenge against Cleopatra II, Ptolemy VIII
declared an impostor, Alexander Zebinas, ruler of
Antioch in 128. Zebinas defeated Demetrius II.
Demetrius fled to Ptolemais and sought refuge
with Cleopatra Thea. She refused to receive him.
She then arranged for his murder by the governor
of Tyre. She also murdered their son Seleucus V
Cleopatra Thea and her first husband,
Alexander I Balas
(Date: I50B.C.E.-I45 B.C.E. 1959.124.2, Archives,
American Numismatic Society)
86
Cleora
lest he aspire to rule. Given the climate of the
times, she might have been seeking to avert her
death at Demetrius's hands, as he would no doubt
have sought to avenge the earlier death of his
father, Demetrius I.
Ptolemy VIII quarreled with Alexander Zebinas
and switched his support to Cleopatra Thea, who
became joint ruler of Syria with her son Antiochus
VIII Grypus in 125. Cleopatra Thea issued silver
coins with her head, name, and titles. She was the
first Hellenistic woman ruler to strike coins in her
own name. On later coins her head appeared with
that of Grypus; her head, however, was in front of
her son's.
In 123, she believed that she faced a final chal-
lenge to her position. Cleopatra Tryphaena, the
daughter of Ptolemy VIII, and Grypus were
betrothed. She was said to have offered her son a
drink containing poison after he came in from a
hunt. He became suspicious and offered her the
drink instead. She refused. Afraid of her machina-
tions, Grypus had her killed in 121 or 120 b.c.e.
Without her powerful presence neither of her
sons, Grypus nor Antiochus IX Cyzicenus, were
able to rule successfully. They waged war against
each other, killed each other's wife, and succeeded
in destroying the power of the Seleucids.
Sources
Appian. Syrian Wars 67-69.
Diodorus Siculus. Library of History 28; 32.9c; 33.
Josephus. Antiquitates Judaicae (Jewish Antiquities) 13.80—
82, 109-110, 137,221-222.
Justin. Epitome 39.2.
Livy. From the Founding of the City 60.
Downey, Glanville. A History ofAntioch in Syria from Seleu-
cus to the Arab Conquest. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton
University Press, 1961, pp. 119-129.
Macurdy, Grace. Hellenistic Queens. Reprint. Chicago: Ares
Publishers, 1985, index.
[b] Cleopatra Tryphaena
(second century b.c.e.)
Greek: Egypt and Asia Minor
military leader
Cleopatra Tryphaena murdered her sister Cleopatra
IV and was, in turn, murdered by her sister's hus-
band. She was the daughter of Cleopatra III. Her
father, Ptolemy VIII Euergetes II, was also her uncle.
The viciousness of her relationship with her sister
reflected their mother's earlier struggle for power.
In 125 b.c.e., her father had installed her aunt
Cleopatra Thea as joint ruler of Syria with one of
her aunt's sons, Antiochus VIII Grypus. Two years
later, in 123, he arranged a marriage between
Cleopatra Tryphaena and Grypus. Cleopatra Thea
perceived the advent of another woman as a threat
to her power. She sought to poison her son. He had
her murdered in 121 or 120, and the marriage went
forward. Cleopatra Tryphaena moved to Antioch.
Her father died in 116, and her mother forced
an end to the marriage between Cleopatra Try-
phaena's sister Cleopatra IV and her brother Ptol-
emy IX Soter II Lathyrus. Her sister went to
Cyprus, where their mother had previously placed
another brother in charge. There she raised a mer-
cenary army, which she led to Antioch and offered
to Grypus's half-brother, Antiochus IX Cyzicenus.
She also married him. She was now her sister
Cleopatra Tryphaena's enemy.
Grypus drove Cyzenicus out ofAntioch in 1 12
and captured Cleopatra IV Cleopatra Tryphaena
could not have had any illusions about her sister or
what she could buy with her wealth. She feared
that her husband would become her sister's pawn.
She insisted that Cleopatra IV be killed.
Cyzicenus later recaptured Antioch and killed
Cleopatra Tryphaena to appease the spirit of his
murdered wife.
Sources
Justin. Epitome 39.3.
Downey, Glanville. A History ofAntioch in Syria fom Seleu-
cus to the Arab Conquest. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton
University Press, 1961, pp. 127-128.
Macurdy, Grace. Hellenistic Queens. Reprint. Chicago: Ares
Publishers, 1985, index.
[a] Cleora
(fifth-fourth century b.c.e.) Greek: Sparta
wife of ruler
Cleora was the wife of Agesilaus II of Sparta, who
came to power in 399 b.c.e. She had two daughters,
87
Clodia(l)
Eupolia and Proanga, and a son, Archidamus, who
succeeded his father in 360 b.c.e.
Sources
Plutarch. Vitae Parallelize (Parallel Lives): Agesilaus 19.5-
Hj Clodia(l)
(first century b.c.e.) Roman: Rome
political wife
Clodia was the eldest of three sisters, all named
Clodia, and the only one of them to lead a life free
of notoriety. Her mother was from the powerful
and aristocratic Metelli clan, and her father was
Appius Claudius Pulcher, consul in 79 b.c.e. When
Clodia married Quintus Marcus Rex, consul in
68, her father was still alive and the family intact.
However, he died soon after and left debts that far
outweighed assets. Even though her oldest brother
assumed family responsibility and worked to
restore their fortunes, it was a financial disaster for
her two sisters, Clodia (2) and Clodia (3), and
transformed their lives.
Sources
Pauly, A., G. Wissowa, and W. Kroll. Real-Encyclopadie
d. Classischen Altertumswissenschaft 1893— (Germany:
multiple publishers) 72.
Syme, Ronald. The Roman Revolution. London: Oxford
University Press, 1963, pp. 20, 23.
Clodia (2)
(95 B.C.E.-?)
adventurer
Roman: Italy
Clodia was well born, smart, and educated. She
lived her life with scant regard for tradition amid
the rich, famous, and notorious in the last decades
of the republic. One of six children, she was born
in 95 b.c.e. into the aristocratic Metelli clan. Her
mother's name is unknown. Her father was Appius
Claudius Pulcher, consul in 79 b.c.e. He died in
76, leaving the family in poverty. Her eldest
brother, Appius Claudius Pulcher, sought to restore
the family's fortunes and was regarded as corrupt
even in an age known for its corruption. Publius
Clodius Pulcher, her younger brother, became tri-
bune, curried popular favor, and enforced populist
laws with armed mobs.
With little more than her beauty and her brains,
Clodia married her first cousin Quintus Metellus
Celler by 62 b.c.e. and was widowed in 59, when
her husband unexpectedly died before he assumed
his proconsulship of Transalpine Gaul. Although it
is unclear at what point she became part of the
social set that included the well born, the notori-
ous, the rich, and the cultured, she began an affair
with the poet Gaius Valerius Catullus toward the
end of her husband's life when she was about
thirty-five years old, and Catullus, some 6 to 10
years younger.
Her lover was one of Rome's greatest poets, and
his life marked the opening of the richest period in
Latin poetry. Born around 85 b.c.e. in the vicinity
of Verona, he lived his adult life primarily in Rome.
He wrote in the years that preceded full-scale civil
war, when festering political, social, and economic
problems already made a patent mockery of the
historical ideals of the republic. His poetry, built on
Alexandrine literary traditions that had come into
Roman culture from the East, often portrayed the
political intrigue and gossip of the clannish Roman
elite with a vivid and witty sting. Above all, how-
ever, his poetry recorded his love for Lesbia.
Lesbia was his name for Clodia. It was a refer-
ence to Sappho, the greatest woman poet of the
ancient world, and a tribute to Clodia's beauty and
intelligence. The Lesbia poems followed the
demand of poetic love for a grand passion of a
mostly unhappy kind and may or may not reflect a
progression that fully matched the reality of their
relationship. Catullus largely portrayed himself as
an adoring lover who suffered the imperious and
unfaithful attentions of his adored. He portrayed
Lesbia as the dominant partner in the relationship
and as a woman unlikely to surrender herself for
very long to idylls of love with a poet.
The Lesbia poems also convey a timeless emo-
tional reality. Catullus's aching love for Clodia/
Lesbia stands historically marked by lyrical lines of
wanting. The less ardent love of Lesbia/Clodia
wraps itself around her demands for gifts of value
and her calculated uses of the love-struck poet for
88
Clodia (3)
her own ends. One of Catullus s repeated laments,
and sometimes the subject of his most wickedly
funny poems about Lesbia/Clodia, is her unwill-
ingness to be faithful to him alone.
Among her other men was Marcus Caelius
Rufus. Some 8 to 10 years her junior, Caelius was
a part of the same social set. He had come to Rome
as a protege of Marcus Tallius Cicero and had been
on the periphery of the conspirators around Lucius
Sergius Catilina in 63 b.c.e. He held several politi-
cal offices and was aedile under Cicero in Cilicia in
50. An acknowledged orator, he had a caustic wit
and charm, and was a brilliant prosecutor.
Clodia began an affair with him after she was
widowed, and the younger Caelius rented a house
next door to her brother Publius. The relationship
lasted about two years. It ended acrimoniously. In
56, Caelius was charged with a five offenses includ-
ing killing the Egyptian ambassador, robbing Clo-
dia, and attempting to poison her. Clodia was
among those who brought the charges.
Both Clodia and her brother Clodius were ene-
mies of the orator and statesman Cicero, consul in
63 b.c.e. Cicero had testified against Clodius after
the Bona Dea scandal in 62 (see Terentia [i]) and
had made clear his dislike for Clodia's lifestyle. Her
brother gained revenge when he was tribune in 58
and passed a bill that exiled Cicero. Among Cae-
lius's defenders was Cicero, only recently returned
from exile and now presented with an opportunity
to attack his enemy Clodia.
Cicero's speech in favor of Caelius was a model
courtroom oration. Vivid, clever, and very funny,
the speech destroyed Clodia's credibility and her
reputation. Cicero addressed her as if he were her
most illustrious ancestor, the famous censor Appius
Claudius. He instantly reduced her, a woman close
to 40 years old, to the status of a child whose
behavior was unsuitable for a woman. Cicero
accused her of behaving in the manner of a prosti-
tute. He very carefully never accused her of actu-
ally being one, only of having a lifestyle associated
with immoral women. He pointed to her house-
hold, to her travels to the resort town of Baiae, to
her collection of jewels, and to her friendships
with men. He described her as the Medea of the
Palatine who had led a mere youth astray, although
Caelius was hardly an innocent. As a final blow, he
insinuated that she and her brother, his sworn
enemy, had an incestuous relationship.
Caelius was acquitted, and nothing more was
heard of Clodia. However, the information in the
speech, when viewed without malice, also makes
clear that Clodia had succeeded. She used her
beauty and brains to offset her father's financial
debacle and lived an independent, rich, and varied
life, loved by one of Rome's greatest poets and with
close ties to her family, especially her brother
Clodius.
Sources
Cicero. Epistulae ad Atticum 12.38, 42.
Cicero. Pro Caelio, passim.
Plutarch. Vitae Parallelae (Parallel Lives): Cicero 29.1-5.
Balsdon, J. P. V. D. Roman Women. New York: John Day
Comp., 1963, pp. 54-55.
Bauman, Richard A. Women and Politics in Ancient Rome.
London: Routledge, 1994, pp. 69-73.
Grimal, Pierre. Love in Ancient Rome. Trans, by Arthur
Train, Jr. New York: Crown Publishers, 1967, pp.
148-156.
Oxford Classical Dictionary, ed. by Simon Hornblower and
Antony Spawforth. 3d. ed. New York: Oxford Univer-
sity Press, 1996, p. 350.
Pauly, A., G. Wissowa, and W. Kroll. Real-Encyclopadie
d. Classischen Altertumswissenschaft 1893— (Germany:
multiple publishers) 66.
Quinn, Kenneth, ed. Catullus: The Poems. 2d. ed. New
York: St. Martin's Press, 1977, pp. 54-203.
Clodia (3)
(first century b.c.e.)
convicted adulterer
Roman: Rome
Clodia was divorced for adultery after her brother
incited rebellion among the troops under her hus-
band's command. Her parents came from aristo-
cratic families. Her mother's name is unknown, but
it is certain that she came from the Metelli family.
Her father was Appius Claudius Pulcher, consul in
79 b.c.e. Tragedy struck her family when her father
died destitute in 76. She was the youngest of three
sisters, all named Clodia. Clodia (i) married
Quintus Marcus Rex, consul in 68; Clodia (2) was
89
Clodia (4)
the lover of the poet Catullus, among others. Her
youngest brother, Publius Clodius Pulcher, was a
populist politician whose base of power lay with
armed mobs and urban plebs.
Clodia married Lucius Licinius Lucullus, con-
sul in 74. Her husband, a relative on her mother's
side, was an able soldier, politician, and provincial
administrator, lacking only the gift of evoking loy-
alty from troops and colleagues. He held military
commands in Africa and Asia from which he
greatly enhanced his personal wealth. He appears
to have been among the few Romans of the time
to have understood that strangling the cities with
usurious interest rates, tax, or tribute to Rome was
economically counterproductive. He successfully
reorganized the debts owed Rome with a payment
plan at moderate interest rates for the cities in the
East.
Clodia's wealthy husband and her populist
brother ran on a collision course. In 68 b.c.e.,
when her husband was in Armenia and his troops
were ready to mutiny, her brother incited rebel-
lion. The war had been longer than anticipated,
and its end was not in sight. Although the army
had gained significant victories, there was a sense
that Lucullus had benefited far more than had the
soldiers. This was just the kind of situation in
which her brother thrived. Gifted with articulating
the discontent of Romans, her brother also believed
that Lucullus had failed to adequately reward him.
Moreover, the leadership in Rome had turned
against Lucullus. Led by the equites, whose
incomes suffered from his financial reorganization,
they successfully clamored for him to be relieved of
his command.
Lucullus returned to Rome a frustrated and
angry man who had to fight for a triumph. Shortly
after he returned, he divorced Clodia for adultery.
She had been in Italy for several years alone at a
time when women were increasingly able to have
independent social lives. Her sister Clodia (2) the
lover of the poet Catullus, was part of a literary and
social circle regarded by others as dissolute. With
whom Clodia engaged in adulterous relationships
is not clarified in the sources, which simply assert
her immorality. Their hostility toward her probably
reflects their conservative nature and is an exten-
sion of their view of her brother and sister.
Clodia had a son with Lucullus who died fight-
ing on the side of Marcus Junius Brutus against
Octavian and Mark Antony at Philippi in 42 b.c.e.
Sources
Cicero. Pro Milone 73.
Plutarch. Vitae Parallelae (Parallel Lives): Lucullus 34.1;
38.1.
Balsdon, J. P. V. D. Roman Women. New York: John Day
Comp., 1963, p. 186.
Pauly, A., G. Wissowa, and W. Kroll. Real-Encyclopadie
d. Classischen Altertumswissenschaft 1893— (Germany:
multiple publishers) 67.
Hj Clodia (4)
(first century B.c.E.-first century
c.e.) Roman: Rome
-lived woman
Clodia was the wife of an otherwise unknown
Claudius Aufilius during the late republic. She sur-
vived her husband and her 15 children. She was
said to have died at the age of 1 15.
Sources
Pliny the Elder. Naturalis Historia 7.48, 158.
Pauly, A., G. Wissowa, and W. Kroll. Real-Encyclopadie
d. Classischen Altertumswissenschaft 1893-. (Germany:
multiple publishers) 68.
[a] Clodia Laeta
(?— 213 c.e.) Roman: Rome
priestess
Clodia Laeta was one of four Vestal Virgins accused
of sexual misconduct in 213 c.e. by the emperor
Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (Caracalla). Clodia
protested, claiming that Antoninus knew her to be
a virgin. Still, she and her three sister Vestals,
Aurelia Severa, Cannutia Crescentina, and
Pomponia Rufina, were condemned. Clodia suf-
fered the traditional punishment of being buried
alive. In contrast with earlier times, the impropri-
eties of Clodia and her sister Vestal Virgins raised
few fears of omens of disaster for Rome. Nonethe-
less, loyalty to tradition survived religious faith and
90
Constantia
an expectation of chastity from the Vestals remained
the norm.
Sources
Dio Cassius. Roman History 78.16.1-3.
Sources
Plutarch. Vitae Parallelae (Parallel Lives): Sulla 6.10, 11.
Syme, Ronald. The Roman Revolution. London: Oxford
University Press, 1963, p. 20.
Hj Cloelia (I)
(sixth century b.c.e.)
Roman: Rome and Etruria
heroine
Cloelia led a group of Roman hostages to free-
dom. A heroine from the sixth century b.c.e.,
before the union of Etruria and Rome, she was
among the hostages sent by Rome to the Etrus-
cans as surety for a peace treaty. In a story that
may well be apocryphal, Cloelia successfully orga-
nized some of the hostages to swim back to
Roman territory across the Tiber. The furious
Etruscan ruler, Porsenna, demanded that Cloelia
be returned; but in admiration of her daring, he
promised her safety.
Cloelia returned. Porsenna allowed her to chose
one-half of the hostages to take back to Rome.
With the approval of the hostages, she chose the
younger boys, because, she argued, they were the
most vulnerable. Cloelia was honored by the
Romans with a statue on the Via Sacra.
Sources
Livy. From the Founding of the City 2.13.6— 11.
Polyaenus. Strategemata 31.
Oxford Classical Dictionary, ed. by Simon Hornblower and
Antony Spawforth. 3d. ed. New York: Oxford Univer-
sity Press, 1996, p. 254.
Hj Cloelia (2)
(first century b.c.e.) Roman: Rome
faultless wife; divorced
Cloelia suffered divorce from the future dictator
Lucius Cornelius Sulla in 88 b.c.e., ostensibly
because she was childless. Faultless in marriage,
she secured Sulla's praise and gifts of value as part
of the divorce. Within a few weeks of the divorce,
her ex-husband married his fourth wife, Caecilia
Metella (i), who was both very wealthy and bet-
ter connected.
Coesyra
(sixth century b.c.e.
political wife
Greek: Athens
Coesyra was the daughter of Megacles from the
aristocratic Athenian clan of the Alcmaeonidae
and was ready for marriage at a critical political
moment. In 560 b.c.e. her father and his ally Lyc-
urgus had deposed Pisistratus, the tyrant of Ath-
ens. When the relationship between Lycurgus and
Megacles soured, her father offered the deposed
Pisistratus an alliance. Marriage with Coesyra
sealed the bargain.
Pisistratus, however, already had grown sons
and had neither the need nor the desire for more
children — especially with Coesyra, for her family
suffered under an ancient curse. An ancestor, also
named Megacles, had been an archon in Athens
in 632 b.c.e. He had promised to spare the lives
of a group of men who had seized the Acropolis.
Instead, he induced some of them to leave the
sacred precinct of Athena and killed a number of
others at the altar of Eumenides. No good would
come of any descendants of Megacles, it was
said.
Coesyra reported to her mother that her hus-
band's sexual behavior inhibited conception. Her
father again changed sides and joined the opposi-
tion that drove Pisistratus out of Athens.
Sources
Herodotus. The Persian Wars 1.60— 61.
[b] Constantia
(361/362-383 c.e.) Roman: Italy
Augusta
Constantia's youth made becoming Augusta
unlikely. She was the daughter of the empress Fla-
via Maxima Faustina and the emperor Constan-
tine II. She became Augusta after her husband,
Gratian, became emperor in 379.
91
Constantia, Flavia Julia
Constantia was born after her father died cam-
paigning in 361. She lived with her mother in
Constantinople. A usurper, Procopius, claimed to
be emperor. With a few regiments under his con-
trol, he captured Constantinople. To gain some
legitimacy and to curry favor with the troops, he
took the four-year-old Constantia and her mother
captive. He displayed them on marches with his
troops, sometimes taking them almost into battle.
He was soon overthrown by Gratian.
Constantia married Gratian in 374 and died
before her husband in 383.
Sources
Ammiamus Marcellinus. Histories xxi. 15, 6; xxvi. 7, 10;
9,3.
Brill's New Pauly: Encyclopedia of the Ancient World: Classical
Tradition, Vol. 3, edited by Manfred Landfester et al.
Boston: Brill, 2002, 708-709 (names her Constantina).
Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire. Vol. I. Edited by
A. H. M. Jones, J. R. Martindale, and J. Morris. Cam-
bridge: Cambridge University Press, 1971. Reprinted
1992, p. 221.
[b] Constantia, Flavia Julia
(?-c. 329 c.e.)
Roman: Italy, eastern Roman Empire, and
Rome
Augusta; early Christian
Flavia Julia Constantia, a half sister of the emperor
Constantine the Great, was a participant in the
political and religious controversies of the early
Christian church. She was greatly influenced by the
Alexandrian priest Arius, whose teaching that Christ
the Son was subordinate to God the Father was the
most serious doctrinal controversy of the period.
She was one of six children. Her father Constantius
I had been appointed Caesar in the West under
Maximian by the emperor Diocletian. Her mother
was Flavia Maximiana Theodora. In 313 c.e. Con-
stantia married Valerius Licinius, the emperor of the
East, to bolster his alliance with Constantine.
The marriage of Constantia and Licinius in
Milan spurred Valerius Maximinus Daia to begin a
war. His defeat left her husband and half brother
the two supreme rulers of the empire, and Con-
stantia became Augusta in the East. Using her
position, she sought to foster a reconciliation in
the church. She corresponded with Bishop Euse-
bius of Caesarea, a leader of the Arian sect and
today recognized as the church's first historian, and
brought Eusebius to meet with Arius before the
Council of Nicaea in 325.
The alliance between her half brother and hus-
band faltered, and Constantine defeated her hus-
band in battle at Chrysopolis in 324. She fled
with her husband but intervened with her brother
and secured her husband's freedom. Her efforts
were short-lived. Her husband, allowed to rule
over a much smaller area with its capital at Nico-
media in Asia Minor, was later put to death after
being accused of plotting against Constantine.
After the death of her husband, she and her
two children, Licinius and Helena, returned to
Rome and lived in Constantine's court. She exer-
cised sufficient influence for her half brother to
mint coins with her likeness and to name the port
city of Gaza after her. Her work with church lead-
ers continued. She was present at the Council of
Nicaea in 325 and persuaded her Arian friends to
formally recognize the doctrine of the unity of
God the Father and Son, and to take confession.
She died about 329. Her young son, Licinius, was
executed on orders of Constantine for unknown
reasons.
Sources
Eutropius. Breviarium ab urhe condita 10.5, 6.
Pauly, A., G. Wissowa, and W. Kroll. Real-Encyclopadie
d. Classischen Altertumswissenschaft 1893— (Germany:
multiple publishers) 13.
[b] Constantina
(?-354 c.e.)
Roman: Italy, Asia Minor, Antioch
Augusta
Constantina, the eldest daughter of the Augusta
Flavia Maxima Fausta and the emperor Constan-
tine the Great, was cruel. Perhaps because her
father executed her mother for reasons unknown
in 326 when she was young.
92
Corinna
She married her first cousin King Hanniballia-
nus, who was the son of her father's brother. In
335, her father made her Augusta. Constantine
also gave her husband control of Pontus, Armenia
Minor, and Cappadocia in Asia Minor. After the
death of Constantine in 337, the army mutinied
and murdered a number of high-ranking officials
including King Hanniballianus.
The three sons of Constantine, Constantine,
Constantius, and Constans, fought over the
empire. Constans, the youngest, defeated Con-
stantine, the eldest, who died during the battle.
Constans now controlled two-thirds of the empire.
In 350, he was killed in a palace revolution by
Magnentius, one of his senior officers, who offered
to marry Constantina. Her remaining brother,
Constantius, refused the alliance. Constantina
encouraged Vetranio, Master of Soldiers, to take
sides against Magnentius, who was eventually
defeated. She then married Flavius Claudius Con-
stantius Callus, another cousin and nephew of her
father. Appointed Caesar in 351 by the remaining
brother who had become Constantine II, they
resided in Antioch where they spied on everyone
and executed anyone who they even suspected of
slandering them. They caused such chaos that
Constantine had Callus killed.
Constantina went to visit her brother to secure
his pardon, but contracted a fever and died in
Bythnia, in northwest Asia Minor, in 354. Her
remains were buried in Rome. The basilica of St.
Agnes was built by her, and she founded a monas-
tery in Rome.
Sources
Ammiamus Marcellinus. xiv. 1, 1; 7, 4; 9, 3; 11,6, 22.
Philostorgius. Historia Ecclesiastical?), 11.
Valesius. Excerpts 5, 14-15.
Bleckmann, Bruno. "Constantina, Vetranio, and Gallus
Caesar." Chiron 24 (1994): 30 ff.
Brill's New Pauly: Encyclopedia of the Ancient World: Classi-
cal Tradition, Vol. 3, edited by Manfred Landfester et al.
Boston: Brill, 2002, p. 709.
Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire. Vol. I. Edited by
A. H. M. Jones, J. R. Martindale, and J. Morris. Cam-
bridge: Cambridge University Press, 1971. Reprinted
1992, p. 222.
[b] Corellia Hispulla
(first-second century c.E.) Roman: Italy
affluent woman; litigant
Corellia Hispulla, the daughter of Hispulla and
Corellius Rufus, enjoyed a lifelong friendship with
Pliny the Younger. They engaged in business and
shared family successes and concerns. Corellia mar-
ried their mutual friend Mucinius Justus. Through-
out her life she bought and sold shares in property
that she had inherited from family and friends. At
one time she expressed an interest to Pliny in own-
ing land on Lake Comum (Como). Instead of dis-
posing of a recent legacy of five-twelfths of an
estate, he offered it to Corellia at whatever price she
wished to pay. She gave him 700,000 sesterces for
the land. Later, when she found out that Pliny
could have received 200,000 more, she offered him
the difference, but he refused.
In the legalistic society of the first century c.E.,
many if not most propertied people probably
found themselves in court at one time or another.
Pliny defended Corellia in a suit brought against
her by the consul-elect Caecilius. The content of
the suit is unknown, but Pliny maintained friendly
relations with Caecilius. After her husband's death
from painful gout, she assumed responsibility for
her children and continued to correspond with
Pliny about their education.
Sources
Pliny the Younger. Epistulae 1.12; 3.3; 4.17; 7.11, 14.
Corinna
(third century b.c.e.)
poet
Greek: Tanagra
Corinna was a poet from Tanagra, in Greece, who
probably lived in the third century b.c.e. Her par-
ents were Procatia and Acheloadorus. She wrote
lyric poems in a local Boeotian dialect. Her sub-
jects were the legends of gods and heroes presented
in a simple and straightforward narrative without
metaphors or similes. Unlike Sappho's work, her
poetry was neither passionate nor personal.
In the works of Pausanius and Plutarch there
are references to her life that place her in the sixth
93
Cornelia (I)
century b.c.e. as a contemporary of the Greek poet
Pindar, against whom she was said to have won
five competitions. Pausanius wrote that in her
tomb at Tanagra there was a painting that por-
trayed her in the gymnasium at Thebes binding
her hair with a fillet in honor of her victory over
Pindar. He credited her victory to her beauty and
to the Aeolian dialect of her poetry which he
claimed was understood better than the Doric
used by Pindar. However, her name first appeared
in the first century b.c.e., possibly as a later addi-
tion to the compendium of women poets origi-
nally collected by the Alexandrians. The third
century b.c.e. is now considered a more likely time
period for her life.
Knowledge of her poetry has come mainly from
papyrus texts written in the first three centuries
c.e. Propertius and Ovid, Roman poets of the first
century c.e., named their poetic lovers Corinna in
celebration of her beauty, gracefulness, and
intelligence.
Sources
Ovid, passim.
Pausanias. Description of Greece 9.22.3.
Propertius. Elegies passim.
Campbell, David A. Greek Lyric. 5 vols. Cambridge: Har-
vard University Press, 1982-93, pp. 1-3, 19-23.
Fantham, Elaine, et al. Women in the Classical World. New
York: Oxford University Press, 1994, pp. 166-167.
Oxford Classical Dictionary, ed. by Simon Hornblower and
Antony Spawforth. 3d. ed. New York: Oxford Univer-
sity Press, 1996, p. 290.
Page, Denys L. Corinna. London: Society for the Promo-
tion of Hellenic Studies, 1953.
Pomeroy, Sarah B. Goddesses, Whores, Wives, and Slaves:
Women in Classical Antiquity. New York: Schocken
Books, 1975, p. 52.
[H Cornelia (I)
(second century b.c.e.) Roman: Rome
political player
Cornelia was widowed after her husband killed her
nephew and then committed suicide. She was the
elder daughter of Aemilia Tertia and the great
Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus Major, the
conqueror of Hannibal and sister of Cornelia (2).
Her father was attracted to Greek philosophy and
literature, and educated his children, including his
daughters, in the controversial new learning of the
period.
Cornelia married a cousin, Publius Cornelius
Scipio Nasica, consul in 138 b.c.e. Her husband
and her nephew Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus,
the son of her sister Cornelia (2), were opponents.
Faced with a growing landless population that col-
lected in Rome, Tiberius and his brother Gaius led
the effort to reform the use of public land and for-
give debts. Their powerful opposition was led by
conservative landed interests. Cornelias conserva-
tive husband was in the forefront of the mob that
killed Tiberius.
Scipio Nasica left Rome to escape popular
anger. Eventually he committed suicide in Per-
gamum. Cornelia remained in Rome and later
lived with her mother on their estates in Southern
Italy.
Sources
Plutarch. Vitae Parallelae (Parallel Lives): Tiberius Gracchus
19.1-6; 21.3-4.
Pauly, A., G. Wissowa, and W. Kroll. Real-Encyclopadie
d. Classischen Altertumswissenschaft 1893— (Germany:
multiple publishers) 406.
Richardson, Keith. Daggers in the Forum: The Revolutionary
Lives and Violent Deaths of the Gracchus Brothers. Lon-
don: Cassell, 1976, pp. 94-95.
Cornelia (2)
(c. 190s-121 B.C.E.)
political player
Roman: Italy
Cornelia was both formidable and influential.
Born in the 190s b.c.e. into one of Rome's most
distinguished families, Cornelia was the second
daughter of Aemilia Tertia and the general who
had conquered Hannibal, Publius Cornelius Scipio
Africanus Major. Her father was attracted to Greek
culture and gave his daughters, Cornelia and her
sister Cornelia (i), an education in Greek litera-
ture and philosophy, which was still unusual even
for men. She married only once, raised her chil-
dren as a widow, and bore the death of both her
sons with courage and fortitude.
94
Cornelia (2)
Cornelia was a wealthy woman. She received 25
talents from her mother on her marriage and
another 25 talents after her mothers death. She
married well, the wealthy and much older Tiberius
Sempronius Gracchus who was comfortable with
an unusually well-educated wife. He was a fine sol-
dier and an excellent provincial governor, consul
twice, in 177 and 163, and censor in 169. Her mar-
riage gave rise to an apocryphal story. As repeated
by the historian Livy, Cornelias father arranged her
marriage at the urging of Roman senators without
the prior approval of her mother. Her mother, furi-
ous at not having been consulted, only forgave her
husband when she discovered that the bridegroom
was the illustrious Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus.
Her husband died in 154 b.c.e., and Cornelia
became a sought-after widow. She remained inter-
ested in the East, and Ptolemy VIII Physcon, ruler of
Cyrene, offered her marriage in 154. Almost contin-
ually at odds with his older brother, Ptolemy VI
Philometor, he no doubt rightly believed that his
influence in Rome would be greatly enhanced
through a marital alliance with Cornelia. So too
would his purse. After her husbands death, however,
Cornelia devoted herself to her children and manag-
ing her estates. She employed Greek tutors for her
children to provide an education for them like her
own in philosophy and mathematics. In a famous
story that is most probably apocryphal, when a visi-
tor, possibly Ptolemy, displayed to her a collection of
magnificent jewels, Cornelia pointed to her children
and replied that they were her jewels.
Of the 12 children she had borne before her
husband's death, only three survived into adult-
hood. Her two sons, Tiberius and Gaius Grac-
chus became the most famous men of their day.
They led Rome in an effort for land reform and
debt forgiveness that would stem the growing
problems of a landless urban poor. Both were
killed, but not before politics had also rent the
family. Her son Tiberius was killed by his politi-
cal opponent and uncle, the husband of Corne-
lia's sister. Her only daughter, Sempronia (i),
married Scipio Aemilianus in 129, another oppo-
nent of the reforms. It was an unhappy marriage,
and his sudden death provoked rumors that Sem-
pronia and Cornelia had murdered him. The two
women were close and lived together after Sem-
pronia was widowed.
Historians have differed over Cornelia's politics
about land reform, which had so dominated the
life and death of her sons. On one hand, in a frag-
ment of a letter that she was purported to have
written and that had been preserved by the histo-
rian Cornelius Nepos, she chastised her son Gaius
for policies that were destroying the state. On the
other hand, the validity of the letter has been seri-
ously challenged since Nepos wrote at a time when
the ruling oligarchy wanted the Gracchi discred-
ited. Plutarch, moreover, reported that Cornelia
hired men from abroad to come to Rome disguised
as reapers and aid Gaius. What has never been dis-
puted was her influence on the behavior of her
children. Although Gaius attacked the tribune
Marcus Octavius for his veto of Tiberius's agrarian
reforms in 133 b.c.e., he also withdrew the bill
that might have meant exile for the same tribune,
claiming it was at the request of his mother.
After the assassination of Tiberius, Cornelia
retired to her estate in Misenum on the Bay of
Naples where she entertained notables of the day.
While there, she received news of Gaius's death.
Cornelia wrote voluminously, and her letters were
published, although only the challenged fragment
quoted by Nepos remains. She died in 121. The
Romans honored her with a bronze statue.
Sources
Cicero. Brutus 104, 21 1.
Livy. From the Founding of the City 38.57.5—8.
Nepos. "Letter of Cornelia," in Horsfall, N„ pp. 41-43.
Pliny the Elder. Naturalis Historia 34.31.
Plutarch. Vitae Parallelae (Parallel Lives): Gaius Gracchus
4.1; 13.2.
Plutarch. Vitae Parallelae (Parallel Lives): Tiberius Gracchus
1.4-5; 4.1-3; 19.1-6; 21.3-4.
Polybius. Histories 31.27.
Valerius Maximus. Factorum et dictorum memorabilium
libriLXAA.
Bauman, Richard A. Women and Politics in Ancient Rome.
London: Routledge, 1994.
Oxford Classical Dictionary, ed. by Simon Hornblower and
Antony Spawforth. 3d. ed. New York: Oxford Univer-
sity Press, 1996, p. 392.
95
Cornelia (3)
Pauly, A., G. Wissowa, and W. Kroll. Real-Encyclopadie
d. Classischen Altertumswissenscha.fi 1893— (Germany:
multiple publishers) 407.
Stockton, David. The Gracchi. Oxford: Clarendon Press,
1986, pp. 24-25.
[H Cornelia (3)
(second— first century b.c.e.) Roman: Rome
great-great-grandmother of Tiberius
Cornelia was the great-grandmother of the power-
ful, independent, and wealthy Livia Drusilla, the
wife of Augustus and mother of the emperor
Tiberius. Cornelia married Marcus Livius Drusus,
consul in 1 12 b.c.e., who successfully opposed the
election of Gaius Gracchus as tribune. Widowed
during her husband's consulship, she also outlived
her son, who was tribune in 9 1 . Her son was assas-
sinated after proposing reforms for which the rul-
ing oligarchy would be credited.
Sources
Pauly, A., G. Wissowa, and W. Kroll. Real-Encyclopadie
d. Classischen Altertumswissenschafi 1893— (Germany:
multiple publishers) 409.
[H Cornelia (4)
(second-first century b.c.e.)
Roman: Rome and Italy
businesswoman
Cornelia was the daughter of the Roman general
and dictator Lucius Cornelius Sulla. In 82-81 b.c.e.,
her father led a ruthless proscription that solidified
his power and eliminated key opposition families.
Cornelia benefited from the sudden surplus of
properties available on the market and bought for
a relatively small sum a beautiful villa at Baiae, one
of the most desirable locations on the Bay of Naples,
which figured prominently in the lives of the Roman
elite during the last century b.c.e. The property she
acquired had once belonged to Gaius Marius, the
brilliant general and major opponent of Sulla, who
died in 86. Cornelia later sold the property to Lucius
Licinius Lucullus, the husband of Clodia (3), for
some 33 times the original sum. This is an unusually
vivid illustration of the inflation that accompanied
life throughout the century and that was the cause
of at least some of the political instability.
96
Cornelia was the wife of Quintus Pompeius
Rufus, son of her father's coconsul in 88 b.c.e.
With her husband, who was murdered at the end
of 88, she had two children: Quintus Pompeius
Rufus, tribune in 52, and Pompeia (i), who
became the wife of Julius Caesar and was a suspect
in the Bona Dea scandal of 62.
In 51, her son became involved in a public trial
and sought from her several farm properties that
she held in trust for him. Initially she refused, but
an emissary convinced her to change her mind. It
remains unclear whether she was rapacious, as
reported by the ancient commentator Valerius
Maximus, or simply a good businesswoman.
She spent much of her life in Baiae and died
there.
Sources
Plutarch. Vitae Parallelae (Parallel Lives): Marius 34.2.
Valerius Maximus. Factorum et dictorum memorahilium
libri 1X4.2.7.
Pauly, A., G. Wissowa, and W. Kroll. Real-Encyclopadie
d. Classischen Altertumswissenschafi 1893— (Germany:
multiple publishers) 412.
Cornelia (5)
(?-68 B.C.E.)
brave woman
Roman: Rome
Cornelia was the granddaughter of Lucius Corne-
lius Cinna, consul in 87-84 b.c.e. and political
ally of the general Gaius Marius. In 84 she married
Julius Caesar, the nephew of Julia (i) and Marius.
For both it was a first marriage. He was 16 years
old; she was probably slightly younger. They had
one daughter, Julia (5).
These were difficult years. After Marius's death
and Lucius Cornelius Sulla's victory over Cinna,
Sulla initiated a proscription against Marian sup-
porters. Cornelia was vulnerable. Caesar could
provide little support. He had rejected Sulla's
demand that he break with the Marian faction
and divorce Cornelia. Stripped of his priesthood
and forbidden his inheritance, he went into hid-
ing and left Rome for Asia where over the next
decade he studied and honed his military skills.
Cornelia, despite her husband's proscription from
public life and the loss of her dowry, remained in
Cornelia (8)
Italy, if not Rome. Possibly she was aided by Cae-
sar's aunt Julia.
Several years before Cornelia's death Sulla par-
doned Caesar, and he returned to Rome and his
wife. She died in 68 b.c.e. Caesar gave the funeral
oration.
Sources
Plutarch. Vitae Parallelae (Parallel Lives): Caesar 1.1—2.
Suetonius. The Lives of the Caesars: Caesar 1.1—3.
Pauly, A., G. Wissowa, and W. Kroll. Real-Encyclopadie
d. Classischen Altertumswissenschaft 1893— (Germany:
multiple publishers) 413.
Cornelia (6)
(first century b.c.e/
cultured woman
Roman: Rome
Cornelia was the beautiful and cultured daughter
of Aemilia Lepida (i) and the corrupt Quintus
Caecilius Metellus Pius Scipio, consul in 52 b.c.e.
Said to be educated in mathematics and philoso-
phy, she married Publius Licinius Crassus, the
younger son of the triumvir, in 55 b.c.e. He died
in 53 fighting the Parthians in Syria. The following
year she married Gnaeus Pompeius (Pompey the
Great). Her new husband sought an alliance with
Cornelia's prominent, rich, and aristocratic family.
He also rescued her father from a bribery charge
and made him his coconsul.
The marriage was successful. When Pompey left
Italy at the head of the republicans in 49, Cornelia
and their young son, Sextus, went to the island of
Lesbos. After Caesar defeated Pompey at Pharsalus
in 48, Cornelia met her husband in Mitylene, the
chief city of Lesbos. Together they sailed to Cilicia
in southern Asia Minor and then to Egypt, where
she witnessed his fatal stabbing as he landed on
September 28, 48 b.c.e.
Cornelia left Egypt for Cyprus and then, with
Caesar's permission, returned to Italy bearing her
husband's ashes.
Sources
Appian. Roman History: Bella civilian (Civil Wars) 2.83,
85.
Plutarch. Vitae Parallelae (Parallel Lives): Pompeius 55, 66,
74, 76, 78-80.
Oxford Classical Dictionary, ed. by Simon Hornblower and
Antony Spawforth. 3d. ed. New York: Oxford Univer-
sity Press, 1996,392.
Pomeroy, Sarah B. Goddesses, Whores, Wives, and Slaves:
Women in Classical Antiquity. New York: Schocken
Books, 1975, p. 171.
Pauly, A., G. Wissowa, and W. Kroll. Real-Encyclopadie
d. Classischen Altertumswissenschaft 1893— (Germany:
multiple publishers) 417.
Syme, Ronald. The Roman Revolution. London: Oxford
University Press, 1963, p. 40.
Cornelia (7)
(c. 46 B.C.E.-?)
political wife
Roman: Rome
Cornelia was the daughter of Pompeia (2) and
Faustus Cornelius Sulla. Her grandfathers were
Lucius Cornelius Sulla, the formidable dictator of
Rome, and Gnaeus Pompeius (Pompey the Great),
consul in 70 and the leader of the republican forces
against Caesar.
Born no later than 46 b.c.e., she married Quin-
tus Aemilius Lepidus and joined in the most politi-
cally active circle of women in Rome. Her
father-in-law was a member of the Second Trium-
virate, established in 43 b.c.e., together with Mark
Antony and Octavian. Her mother-in-law, Junia
(1), was the daughter of Servilia (i). Servilia,
once the lover of Julius Caesar, was the half sister
of Cato Uticensis, and the mother of Marcus
Junius Brutus.
Cornelia's two children, Aemilia Lepida (2)
and Manius Aemilius Lepidus, consul in 1 1 c.e.
survived the civil wars and became public figures
in the early empire.
Sources
Tacitus. Annales 3.22. 1 .
Syme, Ronald. The Augustan Aristocracy. Oxford: Claren-
don Press, 1986, index.
[H Cornelia (8)
(?— 16 b.c.e.) Roman: Rome
eulogized by Propertius
Cornelia was eulogized by Propertius in a long
poem commissioned by her husband after her
97
Cornelia (9)
death in 16 b.c.e., during the consulship of her
brother, Publius Cornelius Scipio. Presented in the
form of a funeral oration or a long epitaph, Corne-
lia speaks for herself from the grave. She accounts
for her life and measures herself against the highest
of traditional Roman ideals. Proudly she describes
herself as an univira, a woman married only once.
She admonishes her two children to know their
history and to carry on the noble family tradition,
to assure the immortality of her name.
Cornelia gives her lineage on both her mothers
and her fathers side. She reaches back into Roman
history of the second century b.c.e. and to her
ancestor the great general Publius Cornelius Scipio
Africanus Major, who conquered Hannibal. She
identifies her parents as Scribonia and her second
husband, Publius Cornelius Scipio, consul suffec-
tus in 35 b.c.e. She speaks movingly of her mar-
riage and her husband, Paullus Aemilius Lepidus,
consul suffectus in 34 and censor in 22. She figura-
tively soothes his sorrow and assures him that it
will pass.
Cornelia was the half sister of Julia (6). Her two
sons were Lucius Aemilius Paullus, consul in 1 c.e.,
and Marcus Aemilius Lepidus, consul in 6 c.e.
Lucius Aemilius Paullus married the grandaughter
of Augustus, Julia (7), in 4 b.c.e.
Sources
Propenius. Elegies 4.1 1.36, 61-72.
Pauly, A., G. Wissowa, and W. Kroll. Real-Encyclopadie
d. Classischen Altertumswissenschaft 1893— (Germany:
multiple publishers) 419.
Syme, Ronald. The Augustan Aristocracy. Oxford: Claren-
don Press, 1986, index.
[a] Cornelia (9)
(first century B.c.E.-first century
c.e.) Roman: Rome
loyal wife
Cornelia, a member of the Scipiones family, mar-
ried Lucius Volusius Saturninus, consul in 3 c.e. In
24 c.e., when her husband was 62, she bore him a
son, Quintus Volusius Saturninus, who became
consul in 56. Her husband died in the year his son
became consul when he was 93 years old.
Sources
Pliny the Elder. Naturalis Historia 7.62.
Pauly, A., G. Wissowa, and W. Kroll. Real-Encyclopadie
d. Classischen Altertumswissenschaft 1893— (Germany:
multiple publishers) 423.
Syme, Ronald. The Augustan Aristocracy. Oxford: Claren-
don Press, 1986, pp. 252 ff.
Cornelia (10)
(first century c.e.)
priestess
Roman: Rome
Cornelia received a dowry of 2 million sesterces when
she became a Vestal Virgin in 23 c.e. The commit-
ment to the priesthood was optional after 30 years.
Since Cornelia became a priestess at a young age, she
could later marry. Moreover, her wealth would remain
intact throughout her priestly years, and she could
leave the priesthood a very wealthy woman.
Sources
Tacitus. Annales 4.16.
Pauly, A., G. Wissowa, and W Kroll. Real-Encyclopadie
d. Classischen Altertumswissenschaft 1893-. (Germany:
multiple publishers) 422.
Cornelia (II)
(first century c.e.)
adulterer
Roman: Rome, Germany
Cornelia went to Germany with her husband,
Gaius Calvisius Sabinus, consul in 26 c.e. and
then governor of Pannonia. Although by this time
it was not uncommon for wives accompany their
husbands, military camps at night were largely off-
limits to women. With the complicity of the tri-
bune Titus Vinius, Cornelia entered the camp after
dark disguised as a soldier. She watched the drills
and, according to Tacitus, committed adultery in
the general's headquarters.
Returning to Rome in 39 c.e., Cornelia was
charged with accompanying the sentries on their
rounds and watching them drill. Her husband was
accused of abetting her. They both committed sui-
cide before the trial.
Sources
Dio Cassius. Roman History 59.18.4.
Tacitus. Historiae 1.48.
98
Cratesicleia
Pauly, A., G. Wissowa, and W. Kroll. Real-Encyclopadie
d. Classischen Altertumswissenschafi 1893— (Germany:
multiple publishers) 424.
(U Cornelia (12)
(?— 90 c.e.) Roman: Rome
priestess
Cornelia was the head of the college of Vestal Vir-
gins when the emperor Domitian began a purity
campaign in 83 C.e. to improve public morality.
He attacked the Vestal Virgins and the temple in
the Forum as a sinkhole of immorality that had
existed from before his reign. Three of the Vestal
Virgins, the two sisters Oculata and Varronilla,
were forced to choose how they should die. Corne-
lia was found innocent of any charges.
Domitian was determined that she be found
guilty. He renewed the charges in 90 and convened
the pontiffs at his villa in the city of Alba Longa,
some 15 miles southeast of Rome, rather than in the
pontifical court in Rome. Cornelia was condemned
and sentenced to death for incest without being
present to rebut the charges. Such was Domitian's
hostility to Cornelia that he also decreed that the
punishment should be entombment while still alive,
instead of allowing her to choose her own manner
of death.
Cornelia protested her innocence as she was led
to her burial place. Celer, the Roman equestrian
accused of consorting with her, protested his inno-
cence as he was whipped to death in a public square.
Sources
Pliny the Younger. Epistulae 4.11 ff.
Suetonius. The Lives of the Caesars: Domitian 8.
Balsdon, J. P. V. D. Roman Women. New York: John Day
Comp., 1963, p. 241.
Pauly, A., G. Wissowa, and W. Kroll. Real-Encyclopadie
d. Classischen Altertumswissenschafi 1893— (Germany:
multiple publishers) 426.
[b] Cornificia
(?— 211 c.e.) Roman: Rome
political victim
Cornificia was the daughter of the younger Anna
Galeria Faustina and the emperor Marcus Aure-
lius. A period of unrest followed her father's death
in 180 c.e. In 193 Septimius Severus became
emperor. He died in 211 leaving two sons who
hated each other; the brothers, Marcus Aurelius
Antoninus known as Caracalla, and Septimius
Geta, quarreled over succession.
Their mother was Julia Domna, with whom
Cornificia maintained at least a formal friendship.
Julia Domna sought to mediate between her sons.
After calling for a meeting with Geta and his
mother, Caracalla instead sent centurions who
murdered Geta in his mother's arms. Cornificia
visited Julia Domna to mourn Geta's death. Cara-
calla took offense. Geta, he claimed, had commit-
ted treason, and anyone who wept for his death
also committed treason.
He ordered that Cornificia die. She was allowed
to commit suicide. Cornificia opened her veins
and went to her death mindful that she was a
daughter of the great emperor Marcus Aurelius,
and calling upon her spirit that was soon to be free
of her body.
Sources
Dio Cassius. Roman History 78. 16.6a.
Herodian. History of the Empire 4.6.3.
Balsdon, J. P. V. D. Roman Women. New York: John Day
Comp., 1963, p. 154.
[b] Cratesicleia
(third century b.c.e.)
Greek: Sparta and Egypt
reformer
Cratesicleia was a Spartan aristocrat who gambled
her life and fortune in support of reform during
the third century b.c.e. She was the wife of the
Spartan ruler Leonidas II, who led a conservative
faction that opposed debt relief or land and citi-
zenship reform. Her son Cleomenes III (260—219
b.c.e.), who followed his father in 235, pursued
reformist policies. To support him, Cratesicleia
pooled her property with that of other family
members and allowed a redistribution of the land
to ease the burden of debt that was driving many
into poverty.
99
Cratesipolis
Although she did not seek a second husband, a
marital alliance with Aristonous X assured her son
support from one of the most prominent citizens
of Sparta. When Cleomenes sought the aid of
Ptolemy III Euergetes of Egypt in a war against
Antigonus III, ruler of Macedonia, Ptolemy
demanded Cratesicleia and Cleomenes' children as
hostages. Willingly she went.
After Cleomenes' defeat in 222 b.c.e., he went
to Egypt where Ptolemy III promised ships and
money. Ptolemy III died in 221, and his successor,
Ptolemy IV Philopator, was no friend. Cleomenes
led a group of Spartans in an attack to free the
hostages. They killed a number of Egyptians but
failed to ignite a revolt in Alexandria. Rather than
face capture, Cleomenes and his soldiers killed
themselves.
Ptolemy IV ordered Cratesicleia, her women
attendants, and her grandsons killed. Although she
requested that she die first, she was the last to be
killed.
Sources
Plutarch. Vitae Parallelae (Parallel Lives): Cleomenes 6.1- -2;
11.1-2; 22.3-7; 38.3-6.
Mosse, Claude. "Women in the Spartan Revolutions
of the Third Century B.C." In Women's History and
Ancient History, ed. by Sarah B. Pomeroy. Chapel
Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1991, pp.
145-146, 148.
Cratesipolis
(fourth century b.c.e.
ruler
Greek: Sicyon
Cratesipolis became ruler of the Greek city of
Sicyon in 314 b.c.e. after the death of her hus-
band, Alexander, the son of Polyperchon — a gen-
eral under Alexander the Great. On her husband's
death, she was welcomed by the soldiers, who
esteemed her highly for her acts of kindness, her
practical skills, and her daring.
When the people of Sicyon revolted, she crushed
the rebellion. The name Cratesipolis, meaning
conqueror of the city, was conferred on her after
her victory. She also ruled Corinth until she was
defeated by Ptolemy I Soter in 308.
Sources
Diodorus Siculus. Library of History 19.67.1—2; 22.37.1.
Macurdy, Grace. Hellenistic Queens. Reprint. Chicago: Ares
Publishers, 1985, pp. 106,233.
Crispina
(first century C.E.)
brave woman
Roman: Rome
Crispina ransomed her father's body after his death.
Her father, Titus Vinius, consul in 69 c.e., was a
close adviser of the emperor Servius Sulpicius Galba.
He was murdered by the soldiers of Marcus Salvius
Otho when they assassinated Galba in 69. Taking
responsibility for the burial rites, she negotiated
payment with the slayers and retrieved his body.
Sources
Tacitus. Historiae 1.47.
Crispina Bruttia
(second century c.e.)
political player
Roman: Rome
Crispina Bruttia lived and died by intrigue. Her
father was Gaius Bruttius Praesens, consul in 180
c.e., and her husband, Lucius Aelius Aurelius
Commodus, was the elder son of the emperor
Marcus Aurelius. She married in 177, the same
year that her husband became joint ruler with his
father. Three years later, after the death of her
father-in-law, her husband became emperor.
Her sister-in-law Annia Aurelia Galeria Lucilla
vied with Crispina for position and influence.
About 182, Lucilla organized a plot to assassinate
her brother. It failed. She was exiled and then exe-
cuted. In 1 87, Crispina suffered a similar fate. She
was found guilty of adultery and banished to
Capri, where she was killed.
Sources
Dio Cassius. Roman History 72.33.1; 73.6.
Herodian. History of the Empire 1.8.4.
Scriptores Historiae Augustae. Commodus 5.11.
Scriptores Historiae Augustae.Ma.rcus Aurelius Antoninus
(Caracalla) 27.8.
Balsdon, J. P. V. D. Roman Women. New York: John Day
Comp., 1963, pp. 147-148.
100
Cytheris Volumnia
Pauly, A., G. Wissowa, and W. Kroll. Real-Encyclopadie
d. Classischen Altertumswissenschafi 1893— (Germany:
multiple publishers) 17.
[b] Cynane
(?-322 b.c.e.)
Greek: Macedonia and Asia Minor
political player
Cynane vied with Olympias (i) to rule Macedonia
after the death of Alexander the Great. She and
Alexander were half-siblings through their father,
Philip II. Her mother was Audata from Illyria along
the Adriatic Sea opposite Italy. Cynane was said to
have fought by the side of her father when he cam-
paigned in Illyria, and she killed Caeria, an Illyrian
woman ruler, in combat. She married Amyntas,
Philips nephew, and had a daughter, Eurydice
(Adea) (2). Alexander had Amyntas killed, proba-
bly to solidify his claim to Macedonia after his
fathers death. Cynane did not marry again.
Cynane was independently wealthy and after
Alexanders death determined to use her daughter
to lay claim to Macedonia. Her plan was simple:
The generals had declared two children, Philip
Arrhidaeus and Alexander IV, joint rulers of Mace-
donia in 323. Alexander was the son of Alexander
the Great and Roxane. He was an infant and
fiercely protected by his mother. Philip Arrhidaeus,
however, was the son of Philip II and Philinna,
less protected and not fully competent. Cynane
decided to marry her daughter Eurydice to Philip.
In 322, she organized an army and took her daugh-
ter to Asia where Philip resided under the control
of Alexander's general Antipater, who had been
appointed regent for the two heirs.
Antipater failed to stop Cynane and her army
from crossing the Strymon River. She came face to
face with the Macedonian forces under Alcestas,
who ordered her to withdraw or be killed. Cynane
declared herself ready to die unless Alcestas met
her demand that Philip Arrhidaeus marry Eurydice.
On orders of Alcestas, she was killed before her
own daughter and the Macedonian troops.
Shocked by what had happened, the troops
threatened to revolt unless the marriage took place.
Perdiccas, who held the chief executive authority
after the death of Alexander, acquiesced, even
though he had hoped to marry Cleopatra (3), the
daughter of Olympias and full sister of Alexander,
and claim the Macedonian throne for himself.
Sources
Polyaenus. Strategemata 8.16.
Carney, Elizabeth D. "The Career of Adea-Eurydice," pp.
496-498.
Macurdy, Grace. Hellenistic Queens. Reprint. Chicago: Ares
Publishers, 1985, pp. 48-52.
Pomeroy, Sarah B. Women in Hellenistic Egypt. New York:
Schocken, 1984, pp. 6-7.
Cynisca
(fourth century b.c.e.)
self-made woman
Greek: Sparta
Cynisca, a wealthy woman, was the daughter of
the Spartan ruler Archidamus and the sister of Agis
II, who succeeded her father. She was among the
first women to breed horses and the first to gain an
Olympic victory.
At the beginning of the fourth century b.c.e.,
when the owner of the horses and the racing driver
no longer needed to be the same person, the races
opened to women. Cynisca's horses won the four-
horse chariot race and two other victories. Her
name was inscribed on the victor lists. She erected a
memorial of bronze horses at Olympia to celebrate
her victory, as well a statue of herself in Elis sculpted
by Apelles.
Sources
Pausanias. Description of Greece 3.8.1— 2; 3.15.1; 6.1.6.
Harris, H. A. Sport in Greece and Rome. Ithaca, N.Y.: Cor-
nell University Press, 1972, p. 178.
Pomeroy, Sarah B. Goddesses, Whores, Wives, and Slaves:
Women in Classical Antiquity. New York: Schocken
Books, 1975, p. 130.
[b] Cytheris Volumnia
(first century b.c.e.) Roman: Rome
self-made woman
Cytheris Volumnia was a famous, beautiful, and
wealthy freedwoman of the late Roman republic.
A talented mime, she was the lover of several
Cytheris Volumnia
politically important men including Mark Ant- Sources
ony and Marcus Junius Brutus. In a letter to his Plutarch. Vitae Paralklae (Parallel Lives): Antonius 9.5.
friend Lucius Papirius Paetus, written in 46 b. Cicero. De amicitia 9.26.2.
C.E., Marcus Tullius Cicero mentioned her pres- Pomeroy, Sarah B. Goddesses, Whores, Wives, and Slaves:
ence at a dinner party he had attended. Years Women in Ckssical Anti 1 uit y- New York: Schocken
I, ,l r \r -\ ... T fU , Books, 1975, pp. 198-199.
later, the poet Virgil composed his lenth hclogue rr
on the theme of Cornelius Callus's obsession with
Cytheris.
102
D
6N0
Danae
(third century b.c.e.)
political player
Greek: Athens and Syria
Danae saved her lover and died a traitor. Her
mother, Leontion, rivaled Theophrastus, Aristot-
le's successor, as the leading philosopher in Athens.
Her father, Metodorus, was the most important
disciple of Epicurus. Her father died several years
before his teacher, who took responsibility for
Danaes future. In his will, Metodorus left Danae a
dowry and instructions to his executors to arrange
a marriage for her with another member of the
Epicurean school when she came of age.
Nothing is known of the intervening years
before Danae became the favored attendant of the
powerful Laodice I in Antioch. The very wealthy
Laodice had established her own household after
her husband, Antiochus II, had married a younger
woman. Later reconciled with him, he mysteri-
ously died before he could renege on his promise
to appoint her son his heir.
Among the cities under Laodices control was
Ephesus. She appointed a man named Sophron to
govern the city. He and Danae were lovers. For
unknown reasons, Laodice became suspicious of
Sophron and summoned him to Antioch, intend-
ing to kill him. Danae signaled him a warning dur-
ing his audience with Laodice. Sophron grasped the
situation and requested that Laodice give him two
days to contemplate their discussion. He escaped.
Later he helped the Egyptians take Ephesus and
became a commander in the Egyptian navy.
Laodice discovered Danae's treachery and
ordered her thrown off a cliff. While she was being
led to her death, Danae was reputed to have said
that it was no wonder the gods were despised. She
had saved her lover and was to be killed, while
Laodice had murdered her husband and was
rewarded with glory and a kingdom.
Sources
Athenaeus. Deipnosophistae 593c-d.
Diogenes Laertius. Lives of the Eminent Philosophers
10.19-20.
Macurdy, Grace. Hellenistic Queens. Reprint. Chicago: Ares
Publishers, 1985, pp. 85-86.
Deinomache
(fifth century b.c.e.)
mother of Alcihiades
Greek: Athens
Deinomache was the daughter of Megacles of the
aristocratic family of the Alcmaeonidae. She mar-
ried Cleinias, who outfitted a trireme and fought
against the Persians at Artemisium in 480 b.c.e.
Widowed in 447 when her husband was killed in a
103
Demarete
battle with the Boeotians, she had a son, Alcibia-
des, known for his beauty, his treachery, and his
leadership of the Athenians.
Sources
Plutarch. Vitae Parallelae (Parallel Lives): Alcibiades 1.1.
Demarete
(fifth century b.c.e.)
political player
Greek: Syracuse
Demarete was immortalized on coins issued by her
husband, Gelon, who ruled Gela and Syracuse,
two of the greatest Hellenic cities in Sicily during
the fifth century b.c.e. Demarete was the daughter
of Theron (488-472 b.c.e.), who ruled Acragas
located in southwest Sicily. After she married
Gelon, he conquered Syracuse in 485 and made it
his seat of power.
An alliance between Demarete's father and hus-
band defeated the invading Carthaginians under
Hamilcar at Himera. The victory was celebrated
throughout the Greek world. Her husband issued
celebratory coins in gratitude to the gods. The large
silver decadrachms called Demareteia depicted
Demarete on the reverse.
She and her husband were buried on her estate.
A costly tomb, erected by the people, was destroyed
by the Carthaginians in 396 b.c.e.
Sources
Herodotus. The Persian Wars 7 .153—66.
Diodorus Siculus. Library of History 1 1.38.3-4.
Hammond, N. G. L. A History of Greece. Oxford: Oxford
University Press, 1967, p. 270.
[a] Domitia
(?— 59 c.e.) Roman: Rome
political player
Domitia was contentious, proud, and unforgiving.
She was the eldest daughter of Antonia the Elder
and the arrogant Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus,
consul in 16 b.c.e. Augustus was her great-uncle
and her grandparents were Mark Antony and
Octavia (2). She may have had two early mar-
riages: to Decimus Haterius Agrippa, consul in 22
c.e., and to Quintus Junius Blaesus, consul suffec-
tus in 26 c.e. In a contentious suit against her
brother, Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus, consul in
32 c.e., she was defended by her third and last
husband, the famous orator Gnaeus Passienus
Crispus, consul in 44 c.e.
Domitia and her sister, Domitia Lepida, had
opposed the marriage of their brother and the
younger Julia Agrippina. After her brother's death,
Agrippina settled on Domitia's husband, Passienus
Crispus, as a likely replacement. Dislike between
the two women turned into enmity when Domitia
and Crispus who divorced largely on account of
Agrippina's interference.
In 54 Domitia Lepida was put to death by Agrip-
pina. A year later, Domitia joined with an enemy of
Agrippina, Junia Silana, in a plot to turn Agrippi-
na's son, the emperor Nero, against his mother. They
planned to convince the emperor that his mother
was conspiring with Rubellius Platus to supplant
him. A freedman of Domitia, the actor Paris, carried
the damning report about Agrippina to Nero. Nero
ordered that his mother be killed. However, the pre-
fect of the Praetorian Guard, Sextus Afranius Burrus,
persuaded Nero that Agrippina be given a hearing.
She managed to convince Nero of her innocence.
Although Domitia succeeded in outliving
Agrippina, Nero had her poisoned in 59 c.e., when
she was more than 60 years old, so that he could
acquire her property.
Sources
Dio Cassius. Roman History 62.17.1—2.
Suetonius. The Lives of the Caesars: Nero 34.5.
Tacitus. Annales 13.19-21.
Balsdon, J. P. V. D. Roman Women. New York: John Day
Comp., 1963, index.
Pauly, A., G. Wissowa, and W. Kroll. ReaTEncyclopadie
d. Classischen Altertumswissenschaft 1893— (Germany:
multiple publishers) 90.
Syme, Ronald. The Augustan Aristocracy. Oxford: Claren-
don Press, 1986, index.
[b] Domitia Lepida
(?— 54 c.e.) Roman: Rome
political player
Domitia Lepida was the beautiful younger daugh-
ter of Antonia the Elder and the arrogant Lucius
104
Domitia Longina
Domitius Ahenobarbus, consul in 16 b.c.e. Her
lineage was of the highest order. Her grandmother
was Octavia (2) and her great-uncle was Augus-
tus. She inherited the traits of her fathers family —
pride in ancestry, arrogance, ambition, and an
implacable hatred for enemies — which shaped a
lifetime of conflict in the most intimate circles of
imperial power. She vied with her daughter, the
strong-willed Valeria Messallina, and her sister-
in-law, the younger Julia Agrippina, for influence
over the emperor Claudius.
Domitia Lepida, before she was 20 and some-
time after the birth of Messallina, had been left a
widow by Marcus Valerius Messalla Barbatus. Her
second husband was Faustus Cornelius Sulla. They
had a son, Faustus Sulla, consul in 52 c.e., and
their marriage ended either by death or divorce.
The marriage of the emperor Claudius and her
daughter Messallina placed Domitia in the privi-
leged position of mother-in-law to the emperor
and subsequently as grandmother to Britannicus,
the heir apparent. In 41 Claudius arranged a third
marriage for his widowed or divorced mother-in-
law with his friend Gaius Appius Junius Silanus,
consul in 28 c.e. The marriage may well have
aroused Messallina's fears. Silanus, a good friend
of Claudius and now the husband of her powerful
and manipulative mother, posed a clear threat to
her dominant position of influence over the aging
emperor. A year after the marriage, in 42, Silanus
was charged with treason and executed. Messal-
lina and Narcissus, one of Claudius's powerful
freedmen secretaries, had orchestrated his
removal.
The resulting estrangement between mother
and daughter was never healed. Although Domitia
hurried to Messallina's side when her daughter was
accused of treason for enacting a marriage cere-
mony with her lover, Gaius Silius, she simply
advised her daughter to kill herself. Finally killed
by one of the soldiers in 48 Domitia took her body
for burial.
Years before her daughter's death, Domitia Lep-
ida and her sister, Domitia, had opposed the mar-
riage of their brother with the younger Agrippina.
After her brother's death in 39, the widowed Agrip-
pina was herself exiled by her own brother, the
emperor Gaius Caligula. During her exile, Domi-
tia had cared for her nephew, the future emperor
Nero. Agrippina was recalled by Claudius in 41.
She never forgave Domitia for opposing her mar-
riage and now further resented any influence she
might have acquired over Nero. When Agrippina
married Claudius, her dislike for Domitia was fur-
ther exacerbated by Domitia's relationship with
Britannicus, Claudius and Messallina's son.
Agrippina, desirous of enhancing the position
of her son Nero at the expense of Britannicus, and
fearful that Domitia's influence with the elderly
Claudius would favor Britannicus at the expense of
Nero, arranged to have her old enemy found guilty
of using magic and posing a threat to the peace in
Italy by failing to curb the slaves on her estates in
Calabria. She was put to death in 54 c.e.
Sources
Suetonius. The Lives of the Caesars: Nero 6.3; 7.1.
Tacitus. Annates 12.64—65-
Bauman, Richard A. Women and Politics in Ancient Rome.
London: Routledge, 1994, index.
Levick, Barbara. Claudius: The Corruption of Power. New
Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 1993, p. 76.
Pauly, A., G. Wissowa, and W. Kroll. ReaTEncyclopadie
d. Classischen Altertumswissenschaft 1893— (Germany:
multiple publishers) 102.
Syme, Ronald. The Augustan Aristocracy. Oxford: Claren-
don Press, 1986, index.
[b] Domitia Longina
(?-c. 140 c.e.) Roman: Rome
Augusta
Domitia Longina lived a long life and was success-
ful at imperial intrigues, including murder. She
was the daughter of a distinguished general,
Gnaeus Domitius Corbulo, whom the emperor
Nero ordered to commit suicide in 66 c.e. She
divorced her first husband, the patrician Lucius
Aelius Lamia Aemilianus, at the insistence of the
future emperor Domitian. She married Domitian
in 70 c.e., and they had a son and a daughter, both
of whom died. Domitian awarded her the title
Augusta and divorced her. There were rumors that
105
Domitia Lucilla
Titus, the brother of Domitian, had been her lover.
She appears to have taken as a lover the freedman
actor Paris, who was the rage of Rome and a very
desirable lover. Around 84, Domitian had Paris
executed and remarried Domitia, claiming that it
was the will of the people.
Domitia feared that Domitian would kill her.
She joined a conspiracy that murdered her hus-
band in 96. Domitia lived another 40 years and
died shortly before 140. A temple in her honor was
built in Gabii with a donation of 10,000 sesterces
by one of her freedmen on the condition that a cel-
ebration would be held annually on her birthday.
Sources
Dio Cassius. Roman History 65.4; 67.3.1-2; 67.15.2.
Suetonius. The Lives of the Caesars: Domitian 1.3; 3.1;
14.1.
Suetonius. The Lives of the Caesars: Titus 10.2; 67.15.2—4.
Balsdon, J. P. V. D. Roman Women. New York: John Day
Comp., 1963, pp. 131-132.
Pauly, A., G. Wissowa, and W. Kroll. Real-Encyclopadie
d. Classischen Altertumswissenschaft 1893— (Germany:
multiple publishers) 103.
Domitia Lucilla
(?-155/161 c.e.)
political player
Roman: Rome
Domitia Lucilla was a very rich woman at the cen-
ter of a network of connected families that came to
the fore under the emperor Trajan. According to
her son, she was educated and also fluent in written
Greek. She corresponded with Fronto, her son's
teacher, and was a friend of his wife, Gratia, whom
she invited in 143 c.e. to celebrate her birthday in
Naples where she was staying with her son.
She had only one husband, Marcus Annius Verus,
whose father, also named Marcus Annius Verus, was
consul in 126 c.e. They had two children: a daugh-
ter, Annia Cornificia Faustina, and a son, Marcus
Annius, born in 121. Marcus became the emperor
Marcus Aurelius (161-180 c.e.) after he had been
adopted by his aunt Annia Galeria, the elder Faus-
tina and her husband, the emperor Antoninus Pius.
Domitia Lucilla managed her own business
affairs, especially after the death of her husband
around 124. She had inherited her wealth from her
mother, also named Domitia Lucilla, who had
been adopted by her great-uncle Publius Calvius
Tullus, consul in 109. The family's fortune had
originated with her great-grandfather, Gnaeus
Domitius Afer, an orator and businessman who
had a large tile factory outside Rome.
She remained on good terms with both her
children and gave advice on family affairs. When
her daughter Faustina married, she asked her son
to give his sister as a dowry the inheritance left to
him by his father, since he would have his grandfa-
ther's fortune. Marcus agreed, noting that his sister
should not be poorer than her husband.
Domitia Lucilla evidently was an influential
woman. The future emperor Marcus Didius Julia-
nus was brought up in her house, and she helped
to secure his appointment to the Board of Twenty,
a court that decided cases of inheritance. He later
became a wealthy senator, and then emperor for a
brief period. Domitia Lucilla died between 155
and 161 c.e.
Sources
Scriptores Historiae Augustae. Didius Julianus 1.3-4.
Scriptores Historiae Augustae. Marcus Aurelius Antoninus
(Marcus Aurelius) 1.3.
Birley, Anthony Richard. Marcus Aurelius: Emperor of Rome.
Boston: Little, Brown, 1966, index.
Oxford Classical Dictionary, ed. by Simon Hornblower and
Antony Spawforth. 3d. ed. New York: Oxford Univer-
sity Press, 1996, p. 152.
[a] Domitia Paulina (I)
(first century c.e.) Roman: Spain
political player
Domitia Paulina came from Cadiz in Spain; noth-
ing is known of her parentage. She was the wife of
Publius Aelius Hadrianus Afer. They had a daugh-
ter, Domitia Paulina (2), and a son who became
the emperor Hadrian. Domitia Paulina died when
Hadrian was 10 years old, and Hadrian became a
ward of the future emperor Trajan.
Sources
Scriptores Historiae Augustae. Hadrian 1.1—2.
Pauly, A., G. Wissowa, and W. Kroll. Real-Encyclopadie
d. Classischen Altertumswissenschaft 1893— (Germany:
multiple publishers) 107.
106
Domnica
[a] Domitia Paulina (2)
(?— 130 c.e.) Roman: Rome
political player
Domitia Paulina was the sister of the future
emperor Hadrian and the daughter of Publius
Aelius Hadrianus Afer and Domitia Paulina (i).
She married Lucius Iulius Ursus Servianus, who
was about 30 years her senior. Trajan considered
her husband a possible successor. Her husband,
consul in 102, sought to further his prospects at
the expense of his brother-in-law Hadrian, whom
he accused of extravagance and debt. This turned
out to be a serious error of judgment, especially
once his brother-in-law became emperor.
When Paulina died in 130, Hadrian paid her
no public honor. He also showed no favor to her
grandson, Gnaeus Pedianus Fuscus, born to her
daughter Julia. When he adopted Lucius Aelius as
his successor, he had the already 90-year-old Servi-
anus and his 18-year-old grandson Fuscus put to
death for challenging the adoption.
Sources
Dio Cassius. Roman History 69.17.1—2.
Scriptores Historiae Augustae. Hadrian 1.1—2; 2.6; 15.8;
23.8.
Balsdon, J. P. V. D. Roman Women. New York: John Day
Comp., 1963, p. 139.
Oxford Classical Dictionary, ed. by Simon Hornblower and
Antony Spawforth. 3d. ed. New York: Oxford Univer-
sity Press, 1996, pp. 786-787.
Pauly, A., G. Wissowa, and W. Kroll. Real-Encyclopadie
d. Classischen Altertumswissenschaft 1893— (Germany:
multiple publishers) 108.
Capella, a Roman equestrian from Africa. When she
married Vespasian, he was an army officer. She had
two sons, Titus and Domitian, and a daughter, Fla-
via Domitilla. Domitilla and her daughter both died
before Vespasian became emperor in 69 c.e. Her
sons, Titus and Domitian, succeeded their father.
Sources
Suetonius. The Lives of the Caesars: Vespasian 3.
[U Domitilla, Flavia (2)
(first century c.e.)
Roman: Italy and Pandateria
political player, exiled
Flavia Domitilla was the niece of the emperor
Titus Flavius Domitian. She married Flavius Cle-
mens, the emperor's cousin. They had two young
sons whom Domitian favored as successors. Shortly
after her husband's consulship in 95 c.e., the cou-
ple was accused of denying the traditional gods in
favor of Jewish or Christian rites. Her husband was
executed, and she was exiled to Pandateria. Noth-
ing more is heard of the children.
Sources
Dio Cassius. Roman History 67 .14.1— 3.
Grant, Michael. The Jews in the Roman World. New York:
Charles Scribner's Sons, 1973, pp. 225-256.
Oxford Classical Dictionary, ed. by Simon Hornblower and
Antony Spawforth. 3d. ed. New York: Oxford Univer-
sity Press, 1996, p. 600.
Pauly, A., G. Wissowa, and W. Kroll. Real-Encyclopadie
d. Classischen Altertumswissenschaft 1893-. (Germany:
multiple publishers) 227.
[a] Domitilla, Flavia (I)
(first century c.e.)
Roman: Italy and North Africa
mother of two emperors
Flavia Domitilla was born in Ferulium, Italy. Her
father, Flavius Liberalis, was a scribe or law clerk in
a praetor's court. He went before a board of arbi-
tration and successfully gained for her full Roman
citizenship.
Before she married the future emperor Vespasian,
Domitilla had a de facto marriage with Statilius
[b] Domnica
(c. fourth century c.e.)
Roman: Pannonia, Constantinople
Augusta
Domnica was in Constantinople on that fateful
ninth of August in 378 when Valens, her husband
and emperor, lost one of history's decisive battles
and his life. Although the Eastern Roman Empire
never fully recovered from the defeat at Adriano-
ple, Domnica kept the victorious Goths from
invading Constantinople. With the city under
107
Doris
siege, Domnica withdrew from the treasury the
money allocated for the army and distributed it
among residents willing to defend the walls. She
became the spirit of the city as the defenders piled
rocks into huge barricades and mounted rock-
throwing artillery on the perimeter walls. Relief
finally came with Theodosius in the winter of 379
after Gratian, the emperor in the West, appointed
him the new emperor of the East.
Domnica had exercised influence on her hus-
band Valens throughout his reign. Appointed
emperor in the East in 364 by his brother Valen-
tinian I, Valens was never considered a skilled sol-
dier. However, Domnica's father, Petronius, who
Valens raised to the rank of patrician, was a mili-
tary man who commanded the Martensian legion,
named after the Babylonians who filled its ranks.
According to sources he was also considered ugly
in spirit and appearance and was extraordinarily
avaricious, but loyal.
Domnica had already given birth to three chil-
dren, Dominica, Anastasia, and Galates, by the
time her husband became emperor. It was probably
she who saw to the education of her children and
also convinced Valens to be baptized an Arian
Christian. His faith, which was apparently sincere,
was tested while visiting Caesarea in 369 or 370,
when their young son Galates fell critically ill.
Valens summoned Basil, the bishop of Caesaria, to
pray for his son's survival. Basil, an orthodox Chris-
tian, demanded that Valens renounce his Arian
views. The emperor refused, and the boy died
shortly after being baptized an Arian Christian.
Nothing more is known of Domnica.
Sources
Ammiamus Marcellinus. XXXI. 15, 1-12.
Socrates. Historia Ecclesiastical, 1.3.
Sozimus. Historia EcclesiasticaVll, 1. 2.
Theodoret. Historia Ecclesiastica IV, 12. 3-4; 19. 8-9.
[a] Doris
(fifth-fourth century b.c.e.) Greek: Syracuse
political player
Doris married Dionysius I, the tyrant of Syracuse,
in Sicily (c. 430-367 b.c.e.). She was the daughter
of Xenetus, from the leading family of Locri in
108
Greece. On the same day that she married Diony-
sius, he also married Aristomache, who came
from Syracuse. Gossip circulated that Doris's
mother gave Aristomache potions to prevent preg-
nancy and that Aristomache only became pregnant
after Dionysius had Doris's mother killed.
Dionysius was said to have been devoted to his
wives. He dined with them both and slept with
each in turn. It was also said that Dionysius was so
fearful of the women that he had each wife searched
before going to bed with her.
Despite the great support for Aristomache among
the people of Syracuse, on Dionysius's death, Doris's
son Dionysius II succeeded his father.
Sources
Diodorus Siculus. Library of History 16.6.
Plutarch. Vitae Parallelae: Dion 6.3.
Valerius Maximus. Factorum et dictorum memorabilium
libri 1X9.13.4.
(D Drusilla (I)
(39 c.e.-?) Roman: Mauritania and Judaea
political wife
Drusilla was the granddaughter of Cleopatra VII
and Mark Antony, the daughter of Cleopatra
Selene and Juba II, who ruled the Roman client
state of Mauritania in North Africa. Born in 39 c.
e., she married Marcus Antonius Felix, a freedman
of the younger Antonia. Her husband was
appointed procurator of Judaea sometime after 52.
After her death her husband married Drusilla
(2), the daughter of Agrippa I, king of Judaea.
Sources
Josephus. Antiquitates Judaicae (Jewish Antiquities) 20.7.2.
Tacitus. Historiae 5.9.
Pauly, A., G. Wissowa, and W. Kroll. Real-Encyclopadie
d. Classischen Altertumswissenschaft 1893— (Germany:
multiple publishers) 2.
Perowne, Stewart. The Later Herods, p. 59.
Jewish: Judaea and Rome
(D Drusilla (2)
(first century c.e.
political player
Drusilla competed with her older sister, Berenice
(2), for influence, wealth, and power. A member of
Duronia
a great Jewish dynasty, she was the daughter of
Cypros and Agrippa I, king of Judaea (41-44 c.E.),
and the granddaughter of Mariamme and Herod
the Great. Her brother, Agrippa II, ruled the terri-
tories north of Judaea and often was the focus of
the sisters' conflict, especially after the twice-wid-
owed Berenice went to live with him.
Drusilla married Azizus, ruler of Emesa, after he
agreed to be circumcised and follow the Jewish faith.
She left her husband to become the second wife of
Marcus Antonius Felix, a freedman of the younger
Antonia. Felix had been appointed procurator of
Judaea by the emperor Claudius in 52 c.e. He
remained procurator for eight years, and toward the
end of his tenure, he presided over the preliminary
hearing of Paul on charges of creating disturbances
and profaning the Jewish Temple. Felix sought
Drusilla's advice. Both listened to Paul testify.
Drusilla left Judaea for Rome with Felix at the
end of his procuratorship and did not return. Felix's
brother Pallas, an ally of the younger Agrippina,
was Claudius's financial secretary and was among
the richest, most powerful men in Rome. Drusilla
used her influence to shield Felix when Pallas fell
from power in Rome after the death of Agrippina.
Drusilla gave birth to a son named Antonius
Agrippa, who died during the eruption of Vesuvius
in 79.
Sources
Josephus. Antiquitates Judakae (Jewish Antiquities) 19.354—
55; 20.139, 141.
Tacitus. Historiae 5.9.
Grant, Michael. The Jews in the Roman World. New York:
Charles Scribner's Sons, 1973, index.
Perowne, Stewart. The Later Herods, index.
Drypetis
(fourth century b.c.e.)
political player
Persian: Persia
Drypetis was one of the daughters of Darius III,
ruler of Persia, who was defeated by Alexander the
Great. She was among some 80 women of the Per-
sian aristocracy married to Macedonian officers of
Alexander's army at Susa in 324 b.c.e. Drypetis
married Hephaestion, Alexander's childhood friend
and closest companion, while Alexander married
her sister Barsine (2).
After the deaths of Hephaestion later that year
and Alexander in 323 b.c.e. Drypetis and her sis-
ter were murdered by Roxane, the wife of Alex-
ander, to eliminate any rivals to Roxane's infant
son.
Sources
Arrian. Anabasis oj Alexander 7.4.
Diodorus Siculus. Library oj History 17.6.
Burn, Andrew Robert. Alexander the Great and the Helle-
nistic World. London: English Universities Press, 1964,
p. 182.
[b] Duronia
(second century b.c.e.) Roman: Rome
accomplice to embezzlement
Duronia was infatuated with her second husband,
Titus Sempronius Rutilus, and abetted him in
fraud. Rutilus was guardian for the estate of Pub-
lius Aebutius, Duronia's son by her first husband.
He had misused the funds, and her son was about
to come of age.
Duronia set about discrediting Aebutius so as to
prolong Rutilus's guardianship and thereby avoid
an accounting of the estate. She told her son that
some while ago when he was seriously ill, she had
taken a vow that if he recovered she would have
him initiated into the rites of the Bacchae. In 186
b.c.e. Romans feared the Bacchic rites, which were
secret, restricted to the young and virile, and gen-
erally regarded as licentious, even dangerous to the
well-being of the state. Aebutius's initiation into
the cult may well have been judged as leaving him
unfit to assume responsibility over his own estate.
Aebutius, who appears to have been a some-
what naive young man, told his freedwoman lover
Hispala Faecenia of his mother's vow. Before His-
pala had gained her freedom, she had accompanied
her mistress to the rites and knew the ceremonies
to be not only licentious or dangerous but also vio-
lent. She convinced Aebutius to refuse his mother's
request. Together they went to Aebutius's aunt,
who in turn went to the consul. Aided by the testi-
mony of Hispala Faecenia to the consul Postumius,
109
Duronia
a scandal with serious political implications was Sources
uncovered, and a number of people were executed. Livy. From the Founding of the City 39.9.2-12.
Exactly what happened to Duronia and her second Balsdon, J. P. V. D. Roman Women. New York: John Day
husband, however, remains unknown. Comp., 1963, pp. 37-41.
110
E
6N0
[b] Egeria
(c. fourth-early fifth century c.E.)
Roman: Spain, Gaul
traveler, devout Christian pilgrim, writer
Egeria spent more than three years visiting biblical
sites. She was intrepid. Her journal of the trip is
largely extant, except for the opening sections, but
provides no personal information or reasons for her
trip. She was sufficiently well off not to have
appeared concerned about money. She knew no
Greek and her written Latin had errors in cases and
tenses typical of provincial dialects. She probably
came from Spain or possibly Gaul. Egerias trip
began in the 380s, although her journal was written
after 394. Using evidence from her journal, her
home has been attributed to places that range from
Aries to close to Mont-Saint-Michel in Normandy.
Egeria traveled to the Christian holy sites in
search of information and to experience them first-
hand. Unlike many religious women of the period,
she never intended to settle in Palestine. However,
she was a devout woman. Possibly, she was part of
a formal women's community or a less institution-
alized circle of devout Christian women. Whatever
the exact character of her home community, her
descriptions suggest that her information and
experiences were meant to be shared. She appears
to have been the community's eyes and ears and
her journal relayed to them a living sense of the
places where great events happened in the Old and
New Testaments.
Visiting the Holy sites was increasingly popular
for Christians, even during these centuries of polit-
ical uncertainty and economic problems. Travelers
from across the empire frequently converged at the
same place. Egeria appears to have traveled alone,
although, in a manner reminiscent of the pilgrims
en route to Canterbury in a later period, she joined
guided groups to many of the sites. She also joined
groups to traverse significant distances, with or
without the support of a contingent of soldiers to
keep them safe. Most often, donkeys were available
or camels in the desert, but mountains often had
narrow hardscrabble paths that had to be climbed
on foot. Egeria climbed Mount Sinai and traced
the route of the Israelites from Egypt to the Red
Sea, which included a four-day trip across the des-
ert. She also climbed Mount Nebo where Moses
supposedly died. She was always welcomed by the
clergy and monks who lived at or near places she
visited and who often guided her to sites that were
difficult to reach.
Egerias knowledge of biblical events came from
sources that predated Jerome's translation of the
bible into Latin when he was in Palestine at the
monastery built by Paula and Eustochium. She
III
Egnatia Maximilla
used Jerome's earlier translation from Greek to
Latin of the Onomasticon by the church historian
Eusebius, as a road map for her journey. This book
linked events in both the Old and New Testa-
ments, along with geographical descriptions, loca-
tions of the actual sites, the proper names of cities
and villages, roads, mountains, deserts, and the
people who inhabited the area.
In Jerusalem and Bethlehem, Egeria not only
visited the sacred places mentioned in the Gos-
pels, but devoted some 25 chapters in her journal
to the ordinary and special liturgical rites that
formed the annual calendar practiced in Jerusa-
lem. She described the churches in which the ritu-
als took place, the people who participated, the
times of day for the various rites, and the special
prayers for days of feasting and fasting. Also, she
paid particular attention to rites which took place
in Bethlehem.
Her route home was through Constantinople
where she made a side trip to visit the holy monks
and the tomb of the Apostle Saint Thomas in
Edessa, Mesopotamia.
This journey took 25 days. From Antioch, she
crossed the Euphrates, which she compared with
the fierce current of the Rhone, but much larger.
She visited the various shrines of martyrs and some
of the numerous anchorite cells occupied by reclu-
sive ascetics. She went to Carrhae, where Abraham
had lived. She arrived on a saint's feast day and
wrote that she was able to speak to anchorite ascet-
ics who descended on the city and vanished when
the celebration was over.
After returning to Antioch, she left for Selucia
in what is now southern Turkey to visit the shrine
of Saint Thecla. There she visited the deaconess
Marthana, whom she had met while the latter was
visiting Jerusalem, and who led a group of ascetic
women living near the shrine. She then resumed
her journey to Constantinople.
She ended this part of the chronicle with the
information that she was going to make a final
excursion to Ephesus to visit the shrine of Saint
John. Her audience would hear from her in letters
or in person if she returned alive. She asked them
to remember her. Nothing more is known.
Sources
Egeria. Egeria: Diary of a Pilgrimage. Translated and anno-
tated by George E. Gingras. New York: The Newman
Press, 1970.
Sivan, Hagith. "Who Was Egeria? Piety and Pilgrimage in
the Age of Gratian." The Harvard Theological Review,
vol. 81,1 (January 1988): 59-72.
. "Holy Land Pilgrimage and Western Audiences:
Some Reflections on Egeria and Her Circle." Classical
Quarterly 38(h): 528-535.
Weber, Clifford. "Egeria's Norman Homeland." Harvard
Studies in Classical Philology, 92 (1989): 437-456.
[b] Egnatia Maximilla
(first century C.E.) Roman: Rome
loyal wife
Egnatia Maximilla, the wealthy wife of Glitius Cal-
lus, accompanied her husband into exile after he
was implicated in a failed conspiracy to assassinate
the emperor Nero. She and her husband settled on
the island of Andros in the Aegean Sea. An inscrip-
tion found on the island indicates that they were
held in high esteem by the island community despite
the fact that her wealth had been confiscated.
Sources
Tacitus. Annales 15-71.
[b] Elpinice
(c. 510? b.c.e.-) Greek: Athens
well-known Athenian
Elpinice was born around 510 b.c.e. Her father
was Miltiades, the Athenian politician and general
responsible for the great Greek victory over the
Persians at Marathon in 490. Her mother, Hegesi-
pyle, was the daughter of Olorus, ruler of Thrace.
Shortly after Marathon, her father led the naval
forces in an unsuccessful attack on the island of
Paros. Seriously wounded and too ill to testify on
his own behalf, he was fined 50 talents in a trial
prompted by political rivals after his defeat. He
died in prison in 489 b.c.e. with the fine unpaid.
The family was left in poverty. Without a dowry,
Elpinice had no choice but to live with her brother,
Cimon, a leader in Athenian politics and also a
renowned general. His political rivals linked their
112
Epicharis
names in scandalous gossip that was only height-
ened by her beauty. It was rumored that the painter
Polygnotus, a friend of her brother, used her face
for the portrait of Laodice in his painting of the
Trojan women. In time, her brother paid off his
father's fine, and Elpinice married one of Athens's
wealthiest men, Callias, who waived a dowry for
an alliance with the illustrious Phileidae.
Elpinice remained very much a visible woman
after her marriage. Twice she lobbied Pericles. In
463, she sought to protect her brother after he was
charged with taking bribes from Alexander I. After
Pericles defeated the Samians, she upbraided him
for spending Greek lives against Greek allies and
not, like her brother, against a foreign foe.
Elpinice and Callias may have divorced. They
had one son, Hipponicus. On his father's death,
Hipponicus inherited his estate and became the
richest man in Greece.
Sources
Nepos. Cimon 1.2.
Plutarch. Vitae Parallelae (Parallel Lives): Cimon 4.1, 3,
5-7; 14.4.
Davies, J. K. Athenian Propertied Families, 600—300 B.C.
Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1971, pp. 302-303.
Walters, K. R. "Women and Power in Classical Athens." In
Woman's Power, Man's Game: Essays on Classical Antiquity
in Honor of Joy K. King, ed. by Mary DeForest. Wauco-
nda, 111.: Bolchazy-Carducci, 1993, pp. 194-214.
EnniaThrasylla
(? B.C.E./C.E.-38 C.E.
political player
Roman: Rome
Ennia Thrasylla was the granddaughter of Tiberius
Claudius Thrasyllus, a famous astrologer from Alex-
andria. Her grandfather gained Roman citizenship
from the emperor Tiberius, whom he had originally
met on the island of Rhodes. When Tiberius retired
to Capri, Thrasyllus followed. Ennia married Quin-
tus Naevius Cordus Suetonius Macro, prefect of
the vigiles, the large fire and police force stationed
in Rome. Tiberius used Macro to capture Lucius
Aelius Sejanus, the former prefect of the Praetorian
Guard, whom Tiberius had come to suspect of
treacherous designs.
Macro then became prefect of the Praetorian
Guard. He was close to Gaius Caligula, Tiberius's
most likely successor. Macro and Ennia worked as
a husband-and-wife team to assure their future
position. It was rumored that Ennia seduced the
young Caligula after the death of the latter's wife,
Junia Claudilla, and even promised him mar-
riage as part of a plan to expand her and her hus-
band's sphere of influence. Alternatively, Caligula
might have seduced Ennia in order to secure her
husband's support and may even have agreed in
writing to marry her if he became emperor.
Caligula appointed Macro prefect of Egypt. In
38 c.e. Caligula rid himself of the powerful couple
by forcing them to commit suicide.
Sources
Suetonius. The Lives of the Caesars: Gaius Caligula 12; 26.
Tacitus. Annales 6.45.
Levick, Barbara. Tiberius the Politician. London: Thames
and Hudson, 1976, pp. 174, 215.
Epicharis
(?-65 c.e.)
conspirator
Roman: Rome
Epicharis was an imperial freedwoman who partic-
ipated in a failed conspiracy to kill the emperor
Nero in 65 c.e. Impatient at delays by the assas-
sins, she approached Volusius Proculus, one of the
men used by Nero to kill his mother, the younger
Agrippina. Although Proculus had been made an
officer of the fleet, he was known to be dissatisfied
with the emperor's reward. Epicharis solicited his
participation in the plot without revealing the
names of her coconspirators.
Proculus reported his conversation with Epich-
aris to Nero. She denied any wrongdoing, and
there was no apparent corroborating evidence.
Nero ordered her taken into custody. Soon, how-
ever, several of the conspirators confessed and
began to implicate others. Nero ordered Epicharis
tortured. She refused to speak. On the second day,
no longer able to stand, she was dragged in a chair
before her inquisitors. She managed to strip the
strap band from her chest and put it around her
neck, and then tipped the chair and killed herself.
13
Erinna
She is remembered for her courage in keeping
silent when well-born men were betraying those
close to them.
Sources
Tacitus. Annates 15.51, 57.
After his defeat by the Romans, he retreated to
Ephesus with Euboea.
Sources
Athenaeus. Deipnosophistae 10.439e, f.
Polybius. Histories 20.8.
Erinna
(fourth century b.c.e.
poet
Greek: Telos
Erinna was an esteemed poet who lived on the
Greek island of Telos, off the coast of western Asia
Minor. She wrote about her personal life and feel-
ings. Her most famous poem, "Distaff," consisted
of 300 hexameters. It was written before she was
19 years old. Only a few fragments have survived.
They movingly relate childhood experiences with
her friend Baucis and lament Baucis's death shortly
after her marriage. She also wrote two funeral epi-
grams to Baucis.
Erinna died young and never married.
Sources
Fantham, Elaine, et al. Women in the Classical World. New
York: Oxford University Press, 1994, pp. 164-165.
Gow, Andrew S. F„ and Denys L. Page. The Greek Anthol-
ogy: Hellenistic Epigrams. 2 vols. Cambridge, England:
Cambridge University Press, 1965, pp. 281 ff.
Oxford Classical Dictionary, ed. by Simon Hornblower and
Antony Spawforth. 3d. ed. New York: Oxford Univer-
sity Press, 1996, p. 556.
Pomeroy, Sarah B. Goddesses, Whores, Wives, and Slaves:
Women in Classical Antiquity. New York: Schocken
Books, 1975, pp. 137-139.
[b] Euboea
(third-second century b.c.e.)
Greek: Euboea
political player
Euboea, the daughter of Cleoptolemus of Chalcis,
located on the island of Euboea off the coast of
Greece, was well born and beautiful. In 192-191
b.c.e. Antiochus III the Great of Syria occupied
the island prior to invading Greece. Euboea
charmed him. At the age of 50, he married her and
spent the whole of the winter with her in Chalcis.
114
[b] Eudocia
(438/439^71/472 c.e.)
Roman: Italy, Carthage
political player
Eudocia, the eldest daughter of the Augusta
Licinia Eudoxia and Valentinian III, emperor in
the West, was only four or five years old when she
was betrothed to Huneric, the son of Gaiseric,
ruler of the Vandals. Although Roman marriage
law forbade a legal marriage contract between a
Roman and a non-Roman, the betrothal was
spurred by the Vandal threat to invade Italy. The
invasion was averted.
When Eudocias father was assassinated in 455,
Petronius Maximus became Roman emperor in
the West. He forced her mother Eudoxia to marry
him. He also insisted that Eudocia should marry
his son, Palladius, who he appointed Caesar. Her
mother hated Maximus and was rumored to have
asked the Vandal ruler Gaiseric for help.
Less than three months later, in June 455, the
Vandals led by Gaiseric captured Rome and sacked
the city. Gaiseric took Eudocia, her mother, and her
younger sister, Placidia, back to Carthage, along
with a great deal of gold and numerous slaves. In
456, Eudocia married Gaiserics son Huneric, to
whom she had earlier been betrothed. Within a few
years, and at the request of Leo I, emperor in the
East, her mother and sister were sent to Constanti-
nople. Eudocia, however, remained in Carthage,
perhaps involuntarily, and Gaiseric may have
received some part of Eudocias dowry paid by Leo
to facilitate her mother and sister s return.
Eudocia was Huneric's second wife. Sometime
between their earlier betrothal and marriage in
456, Huneric had married another woman. How-
ever, when Eudocia arrived in Carthage, Gaiseric
accused the woman of trying to kill him, ended the
marriage, and sent the woman back to her family.
Eudocia, Aelia
Eudocia remain in Carthage for 16 years and gave
birth to a son, Hilderic, who later ruled the Van-
dals. In 471 or 472, Eudocia went to Jerusalem
and died shortly thereafter.
Some six years later, in 478, ambassadors return-
ing to Constantinople from Carthage reported that
Eudocias son Hilderic admired the Romans and had
allowed the orthodox Church at Carthage to ordain
a bishop, despite his staunch adherence to Arian
Christianity. Hilderic wanted Leo to know, further-
more, that he no longer made any claim for his
mothers wealth under the original betrothal agree-
ment or through her line of descent for inheritance.
Sources
Procopius. Vandelic War III. v. 3—7.
Theophanes. Chronicle KM 5947, 5949, 5957, 5964.
Bury, J. B. History of the Later Roman Empire from the
Death of Theodosius I to the Death of Justinian. Vol. 1 .
New York: Dover Publications, 1958.
Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire. Vol. II. Edited by
A. H. M. Jones, J. R. Martindale, and J. Morris. Cam-
bridge: Cambridge University Press, 1971. Reprinted
1992, pp. 407-408.
[b] Eudocia, Aelia (Athenais)
(c. 400-October 20, 460 c.e.
Greek: Athens, Antioch, Constantinople,
Jerusalem
Augusta
Aelia Eudocia, a resolute and educated woman,
married the emperor Theodosius II and engaged in
the politics of religion, wealth, and power. She suc-
ceeded in living life on her own terms, even as she
and the formidable Pulcheria vied for dominion
over the interpretation of Christian doctrine and
influence over the emperor. Her final years mark
the best that the early centuries of Christianity
offered women of position, independent authority,
and wealth. She died honored and revered.
Athenais was born in either Antioch or Athens,
the daughter of Leontius, a prominent sophist and
teacher of rhetoric, and a woman about whom we
only know that she was Roman. Her father, a
pagan at a time when Christianity was spreading
rapidly, provided her with a classical education
from which she developed a lifelong passion for
reading and writing poetry. At some point in her
youth she moved to Constantinople and lived with
her maternal uncle, Asclepiodotus, a minor gov-
ernment official, and his wife. It was through them
that she met her future husband.
On June 7, 421, she married Theodosius II. She
and her husband were both about 20 years old.
Shortly before her marriage, she had been baptized
by the bishop of Constantinople and took the
name of Aelia Eudocia, which allied her to the
Theodosian women of the imperial line.
With marriage Eudocia gained an empire. The
studious and mild-mannered Theodosius may also
have been personally more appealing than has been
generally thought, especially in view of the vio-
lence which often dominated women's sexual expe-
rience. The emperor gained a beautiful wife who
was well educated and loved literature. Theodo-
sius, shy with women with the exception of his sis-
ters, may have found her pagan education and
literary interests a stimulating contrast to a focused
diet of Christian virtue, modesty, and doctrinal
controversies. Also, his powerful and overbearing
sister, Pulcheria, approved the union.
Some 100 years later, John Malalas, a Syrian
from Antioch who lived between 480 and 570,
composed a chronology of world history with a
romanticized version of the courtship between
Eudocia and Theodosius. According to Malalas,
Eudocias father had died and left a large estate to
his two sons, who refused to provide for their sis-
ter. She went to live with her aunt, who introduced
her to Pulcheria. Taken with Eudocias intelligence
and beauty, Pulcheria informed her brother that
she had found the perfect woman for him to marry.
Theodosius and his boyhood friend Paulinus
invited her to the palace, where they remained
concealed behind a curtain. Immediately upon
seeing her, Theodosius decided she would become
his wife.
Malalas incorporated many classic tropes of
ancient literature, some of which, such as hiding
behind the curtain, extended into Shakespeare's
times and beyond. A more calculating historical
assessment has focused on the role of Pulcheria.
15
Eudocia, Aelia
From the beginning, the relationship between the
sisters-in-law bore directly on the affairs of church
and state. Eudocia, whose conversion has always
been assumed perfectly sincere, was far more toler-
ant of diverse points of view and behavior among
Christians than was Pulcheria. Although they had
different interpretations of Christianity, Pulcheria
may well have been comfortable that her position
would dominate. Eudocias modest family with its
pagan background may have further forestalled
any misgivings that Eudocia would become a com-
peting power in politics or religion. Another and
less-often-examined possibility might focus on
Eudocias own calculated aggressiveness in wooing
the emperor. She was adept at securing her own
ends and meeting all expectations. A year after her
marriage in 422, Eudocia gave birth to a daughter,
Licinia Eudoxia. On January 2, 423, Eudocia
became Augusta. Coins were issued with her
image.
For the first time, two women of the same gen-
eration who were associated with the same emperor
held the title of Augusta. During this period, con-
flict was minimized since Pulcheria spent most of
Aelia Eudocia
(Date: 408 C.E.-450 C.E. 1967.153.187, Archives,
American Numismatic Society)
her time in her own establishments on the out-
skirts of the city. Not unexpectedly, Eudocia used
her position to attend to the well-being of her fam-
ily. Her uncle and brothers were appointed to
important positions in the government. Asclepi-
odotus became Praetorian Prefect of the East and
consul for 423. One brother Gesius became gover-
nor of Illyricum and another Valerius became the
governor of Thrace, consul for 432, and Master of
Offices in 435.
Doubtless, Eudocia supported her husband in
his efforts to improve education by reorganizing
and strengthening the schools of literature and
rhetoric in Constantinople. In religious matters,
orthodoxy prevailed, but Eudocia and her uncle
had a hand in sponsoring measures that, at least
temporarily, ended the persecution of Jews and
pagans. Earlier, Theodosius I had issued edicts
penalizing Christian heretics, pagans, and Jews so
severely that most pagans converted to Christian-
ity, at least nominally. In contrast, Theodosius II
proclaimed that Christians were not to use vio-
lence against Jews and pagans if they lived quietly
and created no disorder. Moreover, the penalties
for violations were severe. Those who attacked
Jews or pagans and their property were subject to
triple or quadruple damages and government offi-
cials up to the office of governor would suffer the
same penalties if they failed to effect a policy of tol-
eration. Between 422 and 423, the edict was under
the authority of Eudocias uncle, Asclepiodotus.
However, a letter from St. Simeon the Stylite,
whose holiness carried great weight, threatened
Theodosius with divine punishment unless he
ended tolerance. Asclepiodotus was removed from
his position.
Perhaps it was inevitable that Eudocias more
tolerant Christianity would conflict with Pulche-
ria's uncompromising views. Possibly it was not
religion at all, but too little space in the emotional
vortex of the imperial family for each woman's
sphere of influence to find sufficient room. The
first public conflict between the two was over the
bishop Nestorius, who should have united, not
divided, them. In 428, Nestorius, who had a repu-
tation for rhetoric and learning, was appointed
116
Eudocia, Aelia
bishop of Constantinople with the imperial stamp
of approval. It soon became apparent that he was
opinionated, tactless, lacked political skills, and
offended key laypeople as well as some prominent
clergy and monks. He also alienated women, rich
and poor, by refusing to allow them to participate
in evening services since their comings and going
in the city after dark might result in opportunities
for promiscuity. In 431, Eudocia allied herself with
her husband and firmly supported Nestorius. Since
it is unlikely that she supported Nestorius's views,
she probably seized the opportunity to join Theo-
dosius in one of the few instances in which he dis-
agreed with his sister. Whether she sought to drive
a wedge between them or to make a statement of
her public political power (possibly both or nei-
ther), it was a public fight that stretched across the
empire.
The conflict reached a crisis when Anastasius,
chaplain to Nestorius, delivered a sermon in the
Great Church in which he referred to Mary as Chris-
totokos (Mother of Christ) instead of Theotokos
(Mother of God) . The distinction was far from arcane.
Christian doctrine was still in flux, and a contentious
issue was the relationship between the human and
divine within Christ. Mary as Theotokos, Mother of
God, rather than Christotokos, Mother of the human
Christ, was enormously popular among the people
and many of the clergy. Through Mary as the Mother
of God, women could stand with the disciples at the
very core of Christian doctrine, since a woman had
borne, not a human named Jesus, but the divine Jesus
son of God. All women who chose virginity gained
from Mary Theotokos, a refracted holiness that erased
the curse of Eve, which men claimed made women
responsible for the loss of Eden.
Mary Theotokos opened the door for women to
claim full participation in the church. Pulcheria,
who at 13 or 14 years old, had pledged her virgin-
ity, staked her power on her holiness and her right
to participate in the church. She had a strong ally
in Cyril, the bishop of Alexandria. Insofar as the
religious and political were coextensive, the bish-
ops were the world court of the time. It was, none-
theless, a case of politics and strange bedfellows.
Eudocias sympathies might have reasonably led
her to oppose Nestorius; Cyril ought to have been
a supporter. He was an unscrupulous man who
manipulated the Alexandrians for his own political
gain. It was he who excited the mob to burn the
great library and museum of Alexandria with its
more than 800,000 papyrus rolls. The same mob
killed the philosopher Hypatia, who was the first
woman and last head of the most prestigious cen-
ter of learning in the entire Mediterranean.
Nestorius suffered less from the kind of unscru-
pulousness that characterized Cyril than from an
unbounded misogyny, which was always a particu-
lar danger to women in the formative centuries of
Christian doctrine. His misogyny led him into a
confrontation with Pulcheria when he refused to
honor her as the bride of Christ in his prayers for
the imperial household as his predecessors had
done. When, as was her custom, she arrived at the
Great Church of Constantinople to take commu-
nion with her brother and the participating priests,
Nestorius refused her entry. He rejected her claim
that since a woman had borne Jesus son of God,
she, through her vow of virginity, had risen above
the sin of Eve. Instead, he told her that as a woman
she only had given birth to Satan.
The conflict over Nestorius gave Cyril an oppor-
tunity to raise the status of Alexandria over Con-
stantinople, one of his long-term political objectives.
He sent to Theodosius, Eudocia, Pulcheria, and her
two sisters, Arcadia and Marina, sets of docu-
ments, ostensibly to prove with historical evidence
that Mary was the Mother of God. He also implied
that Nestorius's views were heretical. Somewhat
inaccurately, he attributed to Nestorius the doctrine
that the human and divine natures in Christ were
separate and not conjoined.
The emperor authorized a council at Ephesus in
Asia Minor in 431. The supporters of Cyril and
Memnon, who was the bishop of Ephesus, intim-
idated the opposition. Cyril gave lavish bribes
and sent Marcella and Droseria, two women
close to Eudocia, 2,250 pounds of gold each, in
hopes they might influence the Augusta. Cyril and
Memnon succeeded in discrediting Nestorius. In
response, a smaller group held a separate council
that upheld Nestorius and deposed Cyril and
17
Eudocia, Aelia
Memnon. However, Cyril and Memnon, who had
popular support, were reinstated. Nestorius, tired
of the controversy, asked the emperor to be sent
back to his old monastery near Antioch. An angry
emperor gave up the fight. Pulcheria was acclaimed
by the people while Eudocia and Theodosius were
the losers.
Eudocia had another child, Flacilla, who died at
an early age in 431. In the fall of 437, Eudocias
daughter, Licinia Eudoxia, married the Roman
emperor of the West, Valentinian III, in Constan-
tinople. At about this time, Eudocia met the
renowned younger Melania, who had arrived
from Jerusalem where she and Eudocia had previ-
ously met. It was a crucial meeting for Eudocia,
who was apparently ready for a change in life. Her
daughter lived in Ravenna, the administrative cap-
ital of Italy. Her sister-in-law, Pulcheria, was a
source of tension, and possibly, her marital rela-
tionship was no longer interesting or the emperor
attentive. Eudocia looked to other pursuits. With
Melania's help, she convinced her husband to allow
her to make a pilgrimage to Palestine.
On her way to Jerusalem in February or March
438, she stopped at Antioch, which may have been
the city of her birth. She won acclaim with a speech
before the local council that ended with an allusion
to a Homeric line that boasted a shared heredity of
race and blood. In Jerusalem, she spent time with
Melania, visited holy places, and prayed at the
empty tomb of Christ. When she returned to Con-
stantinople early in 439, she brought the bones of
Saint Stephen and was greeted in a public celebra-
tion by her husband and the people of the city.
Bringing back saintly relics from Palestine
enhanced her public position. She and Pulcheria
were viewed as sisters in power as well as in law.
Cyrus, Prefect of the City, whose poems Eudocia
admired, became Prefect of the East, undoubtedly
her doing. The emperor, at her behest, extended
the walls of Antioch and erected a new basilica. In
the succeeding years, however, conflict between
Eudocia and Pulcheria seems to have easily ignited,
although they both appeared to respect a set of
boundaries: Neither exercised complete domina-
tion over the weak emperor. His passivity may
have allowed them each to go her own way; he
largely ignored them and they him.
A third person successfully entered the hereto-
fore closed circle, however, and altered the existing
dynamics. An imperial eunuch, Chrysaphius,
encouraged discord between the women. In 441,
he aroused Eudocias anger by harping on the pres-
ence of a chamberlain in Pulcheria's household and
absent from hers. Theodosius refused Eudocia
when she requested that he assign her a chamber-
lain. Chrysaphius urged Eudocia to press Theodo-
sius that Pulcheria withdraw from public life and
become a deaconess, since she was a virgin and an
ascetic. The emperor acquiesced, perhaps thinking
it would diminish his sister's influence or perhaps
desiring not to become involved in any dispute
between these two high-powered women. Possibly,
he was clever enough to gauge Pulcheria's reaction.
Proclus, the bishop of Constantinople and Pulche-
ria's friend, reminded her that as a deaconess she
would be a member of the clergy and subject to
the authority of the bishop. Pulcheria was skilled
at picking her battles and withdrawing from the
fray when she thought it prudent. She was also
uninterested in the bishop exercising authority
over her. She withdrew to her own establishment
in Hebdomon. She also turned her chamberlain
over to Eudocia.
Chrysaphius conspired to eliminate Eudocia.
John Malalas, writing some 100 years later, related
the events in a tale that mixed biblical and classical
motifs of treason and adultery. According to the
account, Theodosius gave his wife the gift of a rare
large apple, which in the ancient world was the
fruit of desire and carnal love. She in turn gave it
to Paulinus, a favorite of hers and a childhood
friend of the emperor, who had injured his foot.
He in turn presented it to Theodosius. When the
latter asked Eudocia what she had done with the
apple, she replied that she had eaten it. The arche-
typal elements of the tale — the apple, the woman,
and sexual desire — make it suspect. The further
suggestion of impropriety or adultery between
Paulinus and Eudocia echoes stories of the Julio-
Claudian women, who were accused of adultery
when the men around them were accused of trea-
118
Eudocia, Aelia
son. That Eudocia was guilty of adultery or trea-
son, however, seems unlikely. The only ancient
corroboration of Malalas's story comes from Nesto-
rius, writing from afar and years later in 451,
which has all the characteristics of a similarly
unfounded accusation of adultery against Pulche-
ria and Paulinus.
What is certain is that relations between Eudo-
cia and Theodosius had deteriorated. Eudocia may
have welcomed time and distance away from him
and his sisters. She planned another trip to the
Holy Land. The palace issued a statement that
Eudocia was embarking on a pilgrimage to Pales-
tine. She left with all her imperial honors in place,
including the scepter, a symbol of her public power.
She also had her immense fortune, a large retinue
of servants and retainers, and two close religious
confidants, John the Deacon and Severus a priest.
After she left, Theodosius lashed out at the people
she left behind.
Sometime between 440 and 443, Theodosius
exiled and then killed Paulinus, an echo of behav-
ior from an earlier time when Augustus first exiled
his daughter Julia and then killed or exiled the
men around her, although their innocence or guilt
was unproven. Another favorite, Cyrus, who had
angered Theodosius because the people acclaimed
him, not the emperor, for improvements to the
city, lost his position and was sent to an undesir-
able bishopric. Shortly thereafter, Theodosius sent
his general Saturninus to Jerusalem. He ordered
the execution of John the Deacon and Severus.
Ancient sources reported that Eudocia killed
Saturninus. Finally, Theodosius deprived Eudocia
of her imperial ministers and stopped issuing coins
with her image.
Eudocia's wealth and other titles remained
untouched and gave her enormous influence in
Palestine, where she owned extensive land. In
effect, she created her own dominion, issuing edicts
and securing obedience. She repaired the walls of
Jerusalem, erected shelters for the indigent, the
aged, and pilgrims who visited the city, and built
and decorated churches. She disbursed an immense
amount of gold, including sums given to the clergy,
monks, and the poor.
She also ordered religious tolerance and pro-
tected the Jews who she permitted to pray at the
ruins of Solomon's Temple. Tolerance was neither
desired nor accepted by those whose beliefs offered
no space for others. A group of monks, at the insti-
gation of their leader Barsauma, killed some Jews
as they prayed. Eudocia ordered that they be put to
death without a trial. A large mob gathered in
front of her establishment to protest her decision
to kill the monks, and the governor of the province
intervened. A mild earthquake that occurred as the
governor was questioning Basauma was taken as a
sign of God's disapproval. The monks were released
with no further disorder. Her defense of the Jews
would appear to have been a principled act, even
though it resulted in her opposing the same monk
whose holiness had impressed her on her first visit
to Palestine.
Eudocia did not live as an ascetic in Palestine
anymore than she had in Constantinople. Her cir-
cle of friends included poets, writers, and philoso-
phers, as well as clergy with humanistic tastes.
Eudocia also continued to compose poems about
religious and secular subjects, several of which have
survived. Although her poetic efforts have not won
acclaim from critics, her work was important. It
marked a transition between the classical and the
Christian. One poem from this later period of her
life, the Martyrdom of St. Stephen, confirmed her
long-time attraction to the saint. She had brought
his bones to Constantinople and restored his
church in Jerusalem. Another was Homerocentoes,
in which she inserted into Bible stories words and
lines borrowed from the Iliad and the Odyssey.
In a world still saturated with the pagan, espe-
cially in education, the replacement of Christian
content for pagan within the respected classical
texts was of critical importance. These were transi-
tional cultural expressions. They were used for
teaching and learning Greek in a way that reflected
the growing dominance of Christianity and at the
same time denied any sharp break with the Greco-
Roman literary tradition. The mere survival of
these poems has to be recognized and applauded,
given the filters of transmission from antiquity,
even late antiquity, that has so systematically erased
19
Eudoxia, Aelia
women's written work. In this case, moreover, not
only has the work survived but it speaks to a wom-
an's role in the transformation of Greco-Roman to
Christian literary tradition.
Eudocia's wealth and status made her an impor-
tant person and assured that she was kept abreast
of affairs in the capital. It also made her a partici-
pant in the eddies of empire that reached Palestine.
Neither the death of Theodosius nor the successful
machinations of Pulcheria and Marcian to rule
affected her personal life and dominion as much as
their convening of a new Council at Chalcedon in
45 1 . Eudocia, along with many in Jerusalem, Alex-
andria, and Syria, was Monophysite and believed
that the divine nature in Christ had absorbed the
human after Incarnation. When Juvenal, the
bishop of Jerusalem, returned from Chalcedon,
where he had reversed his former position and
accepted the new orthodoxy, he was driven from
the city. Rioting and looting by rampaging monks
broke out and a number of people were killed. The
monks replaced Juvenal with Theodosius, one of
their own leaders. Eudocia strongly supported their
cause and approved of their closing the doors of
the city against a possible attack by imperial forces.
She also provided them with means to defend
themselves. Despite the involvement of Constanti-
nople in the purposeful enforcement of the Coun-
cil's decisions, however, Eudocia suffered no
diminution of her independence or loss of wealth
for her opposition. Possibly she was too far from
Constantinople or simply no longer important
enough to matter. Perhaps her lifelong opponent
Pulcheria was no longer interested in competition.
Eudocia outlived Pulcheria, but she did not
have happy years. Political upheaval and economic
woes shook the larger empire. She was besieged on
all sides. Finally, she accepted the decisions of
Chalcedon. She died on October 20, 460, her
standing as Augusta undimmed and her sway of
power diminished but unchallenged.
Sources
Evagrius, H. E. Ecclesiastical History i. 20.
Gerontius. The Life of Melania the Younger. Translation,
Introduction, and Commentary by Elizabeth A. Clark,
New York: Edwin Mellon Press, 1984.
John Malalas. Chronicle. 353, 355 ff.
Socrates. Historia EcclesiaticaVll. 21. 8-9; 42. 2; 44.
Theophanes. Theophanes, Chronographia, AM 5911, 5937,
5940, 5947.
Bury, J. B. History of the Late Roman Empire fom the Death
of Theodosius I to the Death of Justinian. Vol. I, New
York: Dover Publications Inc. 1938, 220-231.
Cameron, Alan. "The Empress and the Poet: Paganism and
Politics at the Court Of Theodosius II." Yale Classical
Studies 27 (1981): 217-289.
Holum, Kenneth G. Theodosian Empresses: Women and
Imperial Dominion in Late Antiquity. Berkeley: Univer-
sity of California Press, 1982.
Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire. Vol. II. Edited by
A. H. M. Jones, J. R. Martindale, and J. Morris. Cam-
bridge: Cambridge University Press, 1971. Reprinted
1992, pp. 408-409.
Usher, Mark David. "Prolegomenon to the Homeric Cen-
tos." American Journal of Philology 8 (1997): 305-332.
[b] Eudoxia, Aelia
(380^04 c.e.) Roman: Constantinople
Augusta
Eudoxia was a spirited and determined woman with
a temper. Although only 15 or 16 at the time of her
marriage to the emperor Arcadius, she knew the
importance of her position, what was due her, and
opposed anyone or anything that threatened her sta-
tus or the status of her family. Her attitude, which
was characteristic of a wealthy Roman matrona, may
have come from her Roman mother. Her father,
Flavius Bauto, was of Frankish descent. He became
Master of Soldiers in the West under the emperor
Valentinian II, sometime after 383. In 385 he was
consul with the two-year old Arcadius, son of Theo-
dosius the Great and the future husband of Eudoxia.
Probably a Christian, he died in 388.
Eudoxia was sent to Constantinople as a child,
although it is unclear if she went before or after her
parents' deaths. She was raised in the household of
Marsa and her husband, Promotus, a Roman who
held the same high office in the East as did her
father in the West. Marsa's household attracted the
most elite circle of the next generation of Roman
imperial leaders. Eudoxia met a friend of Marsa's
two sons, her future husband Arcadius, who had
remained in Constantinople while his father, the
120
Eudoxia, Aelia
Aelia Eudoxia
(Dote: 395 C.E.-404 C.E. 1977.158.968, Archives,
American Numismatic Society)
emperor Theodosius I, led Roman armies in the
troubled West. In the same household, Eudoxia
had the opportunity to become part of a circle of
women that included Marsa as well as Castricia
and Euphemia (2).
These were difficult political times, with Goths
at the borders around the empire and usurpers
vying for imperial power in the West. After Theo-
dosius I died one son, Arcadius, became emperor
of the East and another, Honorius, emperor of the
West. Arcadius was young and inexperienced. The
Praetorian Prefect of the East, Flavius Rufinus
dominated the inept emperor. Rufinus was by
birth a Gaul, not a Roman, and his greatest achieve-
ment would be a marriage between his daughter
and the emperor. Eutropius, chamberlain of the
royal household, who also exercised influence over
the emperor, opposed any such union. Most oppo-
sition came from supporters of Promotus, since
Rufinus had been responsible for Promotus's exile
and indirectly responsible for his later death at the
hands of the barbarians.
Eudoxia and Arcadius were married on April
27, 395, shortly after Rufinus returned to Con-
stantinople from a trip to Antioch. Rufinus's
absence from the city appears to have provided an
opportunity to arrange and sign the legal contracts
for a betrothal. The subsequent ceremonies of the
wedding, which Rufinus witnessed on his return,
presented him with a fait accompli. The organi-
zation of the events speaks to the networks of
relationships that effectively tied together multi-
generational families of wealth and influence across
the empire. It also suggests the power these fami-
lies exercised when they closed ranks and acted
according to class interests. Eudoxia, ethnically
half Roman and half Frankish and at most one
generation Christian, entered into marriage with
the political agenda of an establishment that styled
itself as the elite inheritors of ancient Rome.
After her marriage, there was little Eudoxia or
her backers could do to prevent Rufinus from fol-
lowing a disastrous military policy in the West. It
was possible, however, to address the power of the
chamberlain Eutropius, no friend of Rufinus, who
had nonetheless overstepped his status as a eunuch
when he was named consul in 398.
Eudoxia precipitated Eutropius's downfall using
virtue and fertility as her sword. Her children came
quickly and were healthy. Her daughter Flacilla
was born on June 10, 397; a second, Pulcheria, on
January 19, 399; and a third, Arcadia, on April
13, 400. In 399, Eudoxia appeared before her hus-
band accompanied by two wailing daughters,
Flacilla and Pulcheria, and pregnant with the third.
She claimed that Eutropius had insulted her and
he should be dismissed immediately. What chance
had he against the evidence of fecundity, the most
potent of all female virtues? Eutropius was exiled
and his property confiscated.
Eudoxia played a prominent role in the selec-
tion of Aurelian, a Roman and Prefect of Constan-
tinople, who, as Praetorian Prefect of the East and
consul in 400, presided over the trial of Eutropius.
The political tensions of the period, however,
assured that every victory brought a counterattack.
Gainas led his Ostrogoths toward Constantinople
along with the Gothic forces of Tribigild. They
demanded that Arcadius dismiss Aurelian and
hand him over to them along with Saturninus, the
121
Eudoxia, Aelia
husband of Eudoxia's friend Castricia, and the
enigmatic Count John, about whom little is known
except that he was a frequent visitor to the palace
and a special favorite of Eudoxia. Acadius agreed,
and only the intervention of John Chrysostom, the
bishop of Constantinople, whose own interests on
behalf of the orthodox Church made it desirable to
oblige Eudoxia, prevented their death. Instead they
were exiled. Their exile, however, deprived Eudoxia
of important allies.
Arcadius proclaimed Eudoxia Augusta on Janu-
ary 9, 400, even though she had not yet borne the
much desired son and heir. Bronze, silver, and gold
coins were issued with her image as Augusta on
one side and the right hand of God reaching down
from heaven to crown her with a wreath on the
other side. Five months later, Aurelian regained his
former position after a revolt against Gainas. On
April 1, 401, amid great rejoicing, Eudoxia gave
birth to a son, the future emperor Theodosius II,
amid rumors that the child's father was the also-
returned Count John. Her daughter Flacilla died,
and Eudoxia gave birth to a fifth child, Marina,
on February 10, 403.
Eudoxia, not her husband, played the dominant
role in state religious affairs. A fervent orthodox
Christian willing to use her position to combat
paganism and Arianism, both of which remained
popular in the Eastern empire, her religious author-
ity was accepted by the clergy and the populace.
Her dogmatism, however, was modified by her
admiration for pious clergy. Four monks called the
Tall Brothers, who were widely known and
renowned for their height and their piety, appealed
to her after being charged with heresy and their
monastic settlement in the desert of Upper Egypt
ransacked. She summoned their accuser Theophi-
lus, the bishop of Alexandria, to a synod she
arranged to account for his actions, even though
the monks were followers of Origin, whose doc-
trine the orthodox considered heretical.
In 400, a delegation led by Porphyry, bishop of
Gaza, asked Eudoxia to intervene with her hus-
band to suppress what he considered rampant
paganism in Gaza and to destroy the sites of pagan
worship, especially the temple of Zeus Marnas.
Eudoxia was pregnant and susceptible to the bish-
op's offer of prayers for a male child. However, she
failed. The people of Gaza, her husband noted,
paid their taxes promptly and did not cause any
trouble. Eudoxia promised to try again. On Janu-
ary 6, 402, at the baptism of her son, she arranged
to slip a petition into the infant's hand and to have
his hand raised with a request that the petition be
granted by the emperor. Arcadius, unaware of the
ruse, agreed to honor the petition. Subsequently
bound by his promise, Eudoxia oversaw the
destruction of pagan temples, including the temple
of Zeus, upon whose site Eudoxia paid for the con-
struction of a church. Completed after her death,
the church was dedicated to her.
Eudoxia had a theatrical sense which she used
to political advantage. Wearing a simple shift to
suggest her piety and humility, she carried a chest
with the bones of Christian martyrs to their final
resting place. She led a nighttime procession nine
miles across the city from the Great Church of
Constantinople to the newly completed martyrs'
chapel in the church of Saint Thomas. She theatri-
cally manipulated circumstances to reconcile the
estranged bishops of Constantinople and Gabala,
using a tactic that again depended on her son.
Severian, bishop of Gabala, had ingratiated him-
self with Eudoxia and other influential persons in
the city in hopes of increasing his influence and
fortune. His crass behavior soon aroused the anger
of John Chrysostom, bishop of Constantinople,
whose authority he threatened. He expelled Seve-
rian. Eudoxia ordered his return. She forced Chrys-
ostom to reconcile with Severian by unrepentantly
placing her infant son on Chrysostom's knee and
imploring the bishop to extend himself if he cared
about the well-being of her child.
Eudoxia often exercised de facto public author-
ity since her torpid husband rarely left the palace
grounds. Her personal power, however, also invited
conflict with the bishops who were flexing their
moral imperium and extending their authority. On
February 26, 398, John Chrysostom, an austere,
uncompromising, blunt, and self-righteous cleric
with a reputation for delivering eloquent sermons,
became bishop of Constantinople. Initially, the
122
Eudoxia, Aelia
imperial family concurred, believing that he would
support their prerogatives. Chrysostom's tenure
opened with cordiality and he praised Eudoxia
extravagantly when she led the procession carrying
relics of the saints. However, he was deeply misog-
ynist and believed that women carried Eves sin.
According to him, women were vain, as men were
not, and women were morally handicapped, as
men were not. Women lacked the prerequisites of
spiritual leadership, and men must be ever vigilant
against the insinuation of themselves into posi-
tions of power. A bishop holding these views would
inevitably conflict with the independent women of
Constantinople.
Chrysostom may well have been genuinely
appalled by the extravagant expenditures of the
wealthy on huge palaces, costly furnishings, expen-
sive clothing, and jewels, while the bulk of the
population lived on a subsistence level, if not in
outright deprivation. He condemned the rich and
the renowned, and he was a charismatic preacher.
The masses flocked to hear him. He also attracted a
devoted coterie of wealthy women, often widows,
who responded to his power and authority and
who contributed money to the causes, people, and
churches he favored. His relationship with these
women was often double-edged. On one hand, he
shielded the women from some of the demands of
male relatives who pressured widows to remarry or
who sought control over their fortunes. However,
the women he appointed deaconesses, the lowest
order of the Church, became subject to him as
their bishop. He, not their male relatives, gained
authority to receive their wealth on behalf of the
church and to oversee their behavior.
Chrysostom soon alienated a number of his fel-
low clergy. Some envied his visibility and impor-
tance. His strictness rubbed the rich lifestyle of
others. He instituted reforms and ended the prac-
tice of clerics using young women who took vows
of virginity as live-in housekeepers. He removed
church officials, including bishops, for selling
church offices. He attacked those who embraced
an unsuitably luxurious lifestyle and forced monks
to withdraw to monasteries and cease to live among
the people.
In 403, Chrysostom delivered a scathing ser-
mon against the extravagant wealthy women in
which he used the word Jezebel. The congregation
took the reference to mean Eudoxia. Her three
closest friends, Marsa, Eugraphia, and Euphemia,
also considered themselves insulted and reinforced
Eudoxia's fury. She demanded that her husband
take action. Arcadius convened a council of clerics
to investigate Chrysostom, but Chysostom refused
to attend. The council condemned him, not
because of the charges, but because he failed to
appear. Arcadius decided to banish Chrysostom,
but mobs rallied around the Great Church and
prevented his seizure. He delivered two sermons in
which he again referred to Eudoxia as Jezebel and
compared her to Salome, Eve's sister who demanded
the head of John the Baptist.
On the third day, Chrysostom secretly left the
city. Eudoxia changed her mind. No more or less
superstitious or credulous than those around her,
she sought the signs of heavenly favor and disfavor.
Perhaps she interpreted the death of her daughter
Flacilla or the illness of one of her other children as
a sign of God's displeasure. Possibly, she changed
her mind for the more mundane reason that Chrys-
ostom's departure had too high a political cost.
Eudoxia sent members of her own guard to find
Chrysostom with messages that denied responsibil-
fly for his exile and implored him to return. Chryso-
stom was found in Bithynia and brought back, but
he refused to resume his position until a council
overturned the earlier findings. Eudoxia housed him
in one of her palaces until popular acclaim brought
him to the pulpit. However, the reconciliation was
brief. The Prefect of the City erected a silver statue
of Eudoxia close to the Great Church. Customary
music for its dedication heard during church ser-
vices enraged Chrysostom who complained bitterly
to the prefect. Eudoxia again felt attacked and
threatened to convene a synod. Chrysostum deliv-
ered a sermon again linking her behavior with that
of Salome. Arcadius confined Chrysostom to his
residence and in June 404 exiled him to Armenia.
That night the Great Church of Constantinople
caught fire, which then spread to the senate build-
ing and parts of the palace. Rioting spread to other
123
Eudoxia, Licinia
cities and threatened the rule of the imperial fam-
ily, but the uprisings were forcibly suppressed. On
October 6, 404, Eudoxia, pregnant once again,
died leaving behind four young children.
Sources
Palladius. Dialogue 8, 9.
Socrates. Historia Ecclesiastica VI. 18, VIII. 27.
Sozomen. Historia Ecclesiastica VIII. 6, 10, 13, 15-16, 18,
20, 27; IX. 1.
Zosimus. New History/Zosimus. A translation with com-
mentary by Ronald T. Ridley. Canberra: Australian
Association of Byzantine Studies, 1982.
Bury, J. B. History of the Later Roman Empire: From the
Death of Theodosius to the Death of Justinian. Vol. I. New
York: Dover Publications, 1958.
Holum, Kenneth. Theodosian Empresses: Women and Impe-
rial Dominion in Late Antiquity. Berkeley: University of
California Press, 1982.
Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire. Vol. II. Edited by
A. H. M. Jones, J. R. Martindale, and J. Morris. Cam-
bridge: Cambridge University Press, 1971. Reprinted
1992, p. 410.
[b] Eudoxia, Licinia
(422-493? c.e.)
Roman: Constantinople, Italy, Carthage
Augusta
Licinia Eudoxia played an important role in the
debate over the nature of Christ, which dominated
religious controversy during the period and split
the empire. She was born in 422, the daughter of
Augusta Aelia Eudocia, and the Eastern Roman
emperor, Theodosius II. Brought up and educated
in Constantinople, she was betrothed as an infant
to Valentinian III, also a child and next in line to
become emperor of the West. The marriage took
place in Constantinople on October 29, 437, when
Licina Eudoxia was 15 or 16. Her mother-in-law,
Galla Placidia, continued to exercise a great
influence on her son, even after her regency ended.
On the new coins, Licinia Eudoxia and Valentin-
ian were depicted with Theodosius II between
them to signify the harmony of both the marriage
and the two Roman empires. Licinia Eudoxia
solidified her position with the birth of two girls,
Eudocia in 438/39 and Placidia in 440. Eudoxia
became Augusta in Ravenna in 439.
Licinia Eudoxia
(Date: 437 C.E.-455 C.E. 1970.201.1, Archives,
American Numismatic Society)
In 449, Licinia Eudoxia played a part in a series
of critical religious councils. A council, convened
in Ephesus against the will of the bishop of Rome,
Leo I, adopted the Monophysite position of
Eutyches, bishop of Constantinople, and affirmed
the single nature of Christ. Eudoxia was an ortho-
dox Christian, and in 450, the following year, at
the request of Leo, she wrote to her father, Theo-
dosius II, asking him to intervene and uphold the
orthodox position that Christ had two natures,
divine and human cojoined yet distinct. Her father
died that year, and the Monophysite position was
overturned by a second council in 451.
Her oldest daughter, Eudocia, was four or five
years old when she was betrothed to Huneric, the
son of the Vandal leader Gaiseric. Although Roman
law forbade intermarriage with barbarians, Gaiseric
threatened to invade Italy and marriage was an
attractive alternative to war. The betrothal, how-
ever, had unforeseen consequences. Eudoxias hus-
band, Valentinian, was murdered at the instigation
of Petronius Maximus, who became emperor on
March 17, 455. Although Licinia Eudoxia hated
Maximus, she was forced her to marry him and
Eudocia was forced to marry his son Palladius.
124
Euphemia (I)
Rumors began to circulate that Eudoxia had
asked Gaiseric to avenge her. In May 455, Gaiseric
arrived outside Rome. Maximus was killed while
he was fleeing the city and on June 3, Gaiseric
entered Rome. He spent about two weeks ransack-
ing the city and returned to Carthage with immense
booty and thousands of captives, including Licinia
Eudoxia and her two daughters. Eudocia, perhaps
against her will, married Huneric, fulfilling the
terms of the earlier betrothal.
After the marriage, perhaps in 460, Gaiseric
allowed Licinia Eudoxia to go to Constantinople,
where she spent her remaining years and was
responsible for the construction of the church of
St. Euphemia. She died around 493 c.e.
Sources
Procopius. Vandelic War III. iv. 15, 20, 36-39; V. 3, 6.
Socrates. Historia Ecclesiastica VII. 4.
Theophanes. Chronicle AM 5926, 5947, 5949.
Zonaris. Historia Nova xxiii. 25.19, 22, 23, 26, 27.
Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire. Vol. II. Edited by
A. H. M. Jones, J. R. Martindale, and J. Morris. Cam-
bridge: Cambridge University Press, 1971. Reprinted
1992, pp. 410-412.
[Bl Eugraphia
(?-early fifth century c.e.)
Roman: Constantinople
political player
Eugraphia belonged to the set of interconnected
wealthy Roman families whose landholdings
extended across empires and who sought control
over the emperor. Educated and independent, she
was friends with Marsa, Castricia, and the
Augusta Aelia Eudoxia, wife of the emperor Arca-
dius. Eugraphia was part of the group in Constan-
tinople that arranged the betrothal and marriage of
Aelia Eudoxia and Arcadius while Flavius Rufinus,
the most powerful man in the empire and a politi-
cal opponent, was temporarily absent from Con-
stantinople. She was also among the women, led
by the Augusta, who confronted John Chrysos-
tom, bishop of Constantinople.
Ostensibly the confrontation was about wealth,
which had become concentrated in fewer and fewer
hands as land became aggregated into estates that
included whole towns. The population drift from
the countryside to the cities swelled the urban
underclass, while trade increased and further
enriched the well off. Most of the population lived
at a subsistence level or even in dire poverty. Chrys-
ostom railed against the uncaring wealthy in charis-
matic sermons that entranced the poor and beguiled
many of the rich. However, he was not a diplomatic
man. In 403, he attacked rich old widows who
adorned themselves as if they were young with face
paint and elaborate hairstyles. He compared them
to common prostitutes. Eugraphia and her wealthy
friends considered his remarks a personal attack.
They had the ear of the Augusta and turned her
against the bishop. Eugraphia also provided her
house for meetings of clerics who opposed the very
visible and righteous bishop, including Theophilus,
bishop of Alexandria, and Severian, bishop of Gab-
ala, whose stars were dimmed by Chrysostom.
Eugraphia disappears from the records, but the
battle between the women and Chrysostom suc-
ceeded. Chrysostom lost his position and left the
city.
Sources
Palladius. Dialogue. 4, 8.
Zosimus. New History/Zosimus. Translation with commen-
tary by Ronald T. Ridley. Canberra: Australian Associa-
tion for Byzantine Studies, 1982. 5. 23. 2; 8. 16. 1-2.
Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire. Vol. II. Edited by
A. H. M. Jones, J. R. Martindale, and J. Morris. Cam-
bridge: Cambridge University Press, 1971. Reprinted
1992, p. 417.
[b] Euphemia (I) (Lupicina)
(?— 524 c.e.) Roman: Balkans
Augusta
Euphemia was born Lupicina, a barbarian, a slave,
and possibly a prostitute. She died an Augusta,
wife of the emperor. Her husband, Justin, an Illyr-
ian peasant who purchased her from her owner,
rose through the armed forces and had received
Senatorial rank. Her status grew with his, as did
their wealth. In time they were able to contract a
marriage.
125
Euphemia (2)
The Senate declared her husband emperor in 5 1 8,
following the death of the elderly emperor Anasta-
sius. She changed her name from Lupicina to Euphe-
mia, after Saint Euphemia of Chalcedon. Her name
was not only more suitable for the wife of an emperor,
but also declared the couples support for orthodox
Christianity. In a society ridden with strife over the
nature of Christ, Euphemia and Justin supported the
Council of Chalcedon, which had rejected the
Monophysite position and established as orthodoxy
that Christ embodied within himself two natures,
human and divine, cojoined yet separate.
Euphemia and Justin were quite elderly when he
became emperor. Having no children of their own,
Justin followed custom and adopted his favorite
nephew Justinian. Euphemia favored Justinian but
was adamant against his marriage with Theodora.
She had assumed the airs of the elite and scorned
Theodoras disreputable background. She succeeded
in preventing their marriage of cohabitation from
becoming a formal contractual marriage. Only after
her death did Justin allow passage of the law per-
mitting marriage between a man of Senatorial rank
and an actress at the emperors discretion.
Euphemia provided the funds for the construc-
tion of a church of St. Euphemia and a monastery.
She was entombed in the church she built. Her
husband was buried beside her several years later.
Sources
Procopius. Secret History vi. 17 (under Lupicina); ix. 47,
48, 49 (under Euphemia).
Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire. Vol. II. Edited by
A. H. M. Jones, J. R. Martindale, and J. Morris. Cam-
bridge: Cambridge University Press, 1971. Reprinted
1992, p. 423.
[b] Euphemia (2)
(c. sixth century C.E.)
Roman: Constantinople
political pawn
Euphemia, the daughter of John the Cappadocian,
became the unwitting instrument of her fathers
downfall. John was Praetorian Prefect and highly
regarded by the emperor Justinian for his efficiency
in tax collection. John's cruelty and greediness
endeared him to few but made him invaluable to
126
Justinian who needed money to finance his grand
plans. He was, however, especially hated by the
Augusta Theodora, who felt that he had too much
influence over her husband. John also was sus-
pected to harbor an ambition to become emperor,
which roused Theodora's ally Antonina on behalf
of her husband Belisarius who was Justinian's lead-
ing general. The two women hatched a plan.
Antonina sought out Euphemia. She lamented
that the emperor failed to appreciate her husband's
accomplishments. Asked by Euphemia, innocently
or otherwise, why her husband did not use the
troops under his command to change things, Anto-
nina replied that her husband was engaged in cam-
paigns far from Constantinople. He needed a
partner. She suggested that Euphemia arrange a
meeting with her father. Euphemia informed her
father. In the meantime, Antonina informed Theo-
dora of the meeting, which was to be held at night
under the walls in a suburb of Constantinople.
Theodora told her husband and also arranged for
two trusted officials and a contingent of soldiers to
hide behind a wall. The officials overheard the
plans for a coup. John escaped the officers who
came to arrest him. He fled into the city where he
was apprehended and banished.
Nothing more is known of Euphemia.
Sources
Procopius. Persian Wars I, xxv. 13—30.
Bury, J. B. Later Roman Empire from the Death ofTheodosius
to the Death of Justinian. Vol. II. New York: Dover Pub-
lications Inc., 1958, pp. 57-58.
[a] Eurydice (I)
(fourth century b.c.e.)
Illyrian: Illyricum and Macedonia
political player
Eurydice used her intelligence, prestige, and wealth
to protect herself and her children in the struggles
over succession in Macedonia. The grandmother
of Cleopatra (3) and Alexander the Great through
her son Philip, she probably was from Illyria,
northwest of Macedonia. The daughter of Sirrhas,
she may have been descended from a branch of the
Bacchiadae clan, originally of Corinth, some of
whom migrated to Illyria and founded the royal
Eurydice (2)
family of Lyncestis. As an adult Eurydice learned
to read and write, a rare accomplishment, espe-
cially for a woman, and one for which she justly
was both grateful and proud.
She married twice. Her first husband was Amyn-
tas III, ruler of Macedonia (393-70 b.c.e.). Their
marriage strengthened the relationship between
Illyria and Macedonia. She had three sons, Alexan-
der, Perdiccas, and Philip, each of whom would in
turn rule. She also had a daughter, Eurynoe.
She was widowed in 370, and her son Alexan-
der succeeded his father. She married her daugh-
ter's husband, Ptolemy of Alorus, for dynastic
reasons. It is not known what happened to
Eurynoe, but it is known that Ptolemy killed
Eurydice's son Alexander in 368 b.c.e. Never
declared ruler, Ptolemy governed as regent over her
other two sons for the next three years.
During Ptolemy's regency, a usurper named
Pausanius attempted to claim the throne of Mace-
donia. Eurydice called on the Athenian general
Iphicrates, whom her first husband had adopted as
a son, to support the claim of her two remaining
sons as the legitimate rulers of Macedonia. She put
her two surviving children in his arms and pleaded
their case. He drove out the usurper.
Later, when her son Perdiccas became old
enough to rule, he had the regent Ptolemy killed.
Perdiccas died in battle and was succeeded by her
third son, Philip II, in 359. It remains unclear
when Eurydice died.
Sources
Diodorus Siculus. Library of History 15.71.1; 77.5.
Justin. Epitome 7.4—5.
Plutarch. De liberis educandis 20.14.
Strabo. Geography 7.7, 8.
Macurdy, Grace. Hellenistic Queens. Reprint. Chicago: Ares
Publishers, 1985, index.
[a] Eurydice (2) (Adea)
(c. 337-317 b.c.e.) Greek: Macedonia
political player
Eurydice fought to rule Macedonia. She allied her-
self with Cassander during the turmoil in the
decade after the death of Alexander the Great.
Eurydice, originally called Adea, was the grand-
daughter of Philip II of Macedon and an Illyrian
princess, Audata. Her mother was Cynane, and
her father, Amyntas, was Philip's nephew. She
learned the skills of hunting and fighting from her
mother, who had hunted and fought at the side of
her grandfather.
In 322 b.c.e., Eurydice and her mother joined
the complicated struggle for power that resulted
from the unexpected death of Alexander a year ear-
lier. Their interest was Macedonia. The generals of
Alexander's army had already carved up his empire,
and Philip Arrhidaeus, the son of Philip II and
Philinna, and the infant son of Alexander the
Great and Roxane, had been declared the joint rul-
ers of Macedonia. The general Antipater, who had
represented Alexander in Europe during the Asia
campaign, was declared regent and the effective
ruler of Macedonia.
Cynane raised an army and went to Asia. To
further Eurydice's claim over Macedonia, Cynane
was determined that Eurydice marry the weak
Philip. Cynane was killed in front of the troops on
orders of Alcestas, the brother of Perdiccas, who
had been the second in command of Alexander's
army. Outraged by the murder, the army demanded
that Eurydice and Philip Arrhidaeus be allowed to
wed. Once married, Eurydice followed her moth-
er's footsteps. She inflamed the troops against
Antipater. By the time Antipater returned to Tripa-
radessus, he found the troops unpaid and close to
revolt. Somehow he turned the situation around
and persuaded Eurydice and her husband, as well
as Roxane and her infant son, to return with him
to Macedonia.
Antipater died in 319, and Eurydice, now in
Macedonia, found herself allied with his heir
Polyperchon. Disagreements between them led to
her offering an alliance to Cassander, who was
seeking to overthrow Polyperchon. She arranged
for her weak husband to proclaim Cassander
regent. At the same time her stepgrandmother
Olympias (1), who ruled in Epirus and who had
unsuccessfully sought to control Macedonia for
decades, allied herself with Polyperchon and raised
an army against Eurydice.
127
Eurydice (3)
At the border of Macedonia Eurydice met the
army of Olympias. The soldiers regarded Olympias
as sacred. They refused to fight. Olympias impris-
oned Eurydice and tortured her. She sent her a
sword, a noose, and hemlock and ordered her to
commit suicide. Eurydice damned Olympias with
the same fate befell her and hanged herself with
the straps of her gown. She had not yet reached 20
when she died in 317.
In 316, Cassander defeated Olympias and had
her murdered. He gave Eurydice a royal burial at
Aegae.
Sources
Arrian. Successors 1.30-33, 42, 44.
Diodorus Siculus. Library of History 18.39.2-4; 18.49;
19.11, 1-8.
Justin. Epitome 14.5.1-4, 8-10.
Carney, Elizabeth D. "The Career of Adea-Eurydice." His-
toria 36 (1897): pp. 496-502.
Macurdy, Grace. Hellenistic Queens. Reprint. Chicago: Ares
Publishers, 1985, pp. 40 ff, 48-52.
Oxford Classical Dictionary, ed. by Simon Hornblower and
Antony Spawforth. 3d. ed. New York: Oxford Univer-
sity Press, 1996, p. 575.
[a] Eurydice (3)
(fourth-third century b.c.e.)
Greek: Macedonia, Egypt, and Miletus
political player; military leader
Eurydice experienced several turns of fortune dur-
ing her life. Her father, Antipater, claimed Greece
and Macedonia after the death of Alexander the
Great in 323 b.c.e. Antipater cemented alliances
with marriages for his three daughters. Eurydice
married Ptolemy I Soter in 322 or 321 b.c.e. Her
sister Nicaea (i) married Lysimachus, who gov-
erned Thrace; Phila (i) married Demetrius, who
later ruled Macedonia.
Eurydice was probably the third or fourth wife of
Ptolemy I and bore four children: a son, Ptolemy
Ceraunus, and three daughters, Lysandra, Ptole-
mais, and Theoxena. Eurydice had brought with her
to Egypt her younger cousin Berenice I. Her elderly
husband fell in love with Berenice, who in 3 17 per-
suaded Ptolemy to make her son his successor.
Supplanted by the younger woman, the wealthy
Eurydice never remarried. She went to live in Mile-
tus, a city in Asia Minor, where she had consider-
able influence. In 286 she arranged the marriage of
her daughter, Ptolemais, with Demetrius I, the
widower of her sister Phila and the sometime ruler
of Macedonia. The alliance enhanced the position
of her ambitious son, who was said to have been
violent and cruel. For a short while Ceraunus ruled
Macedonia. Eurydice moved to Cassandreia in
Macedonia. She controlled the city with her army
and was honored with a festival called Eurydicaea.
Sources
Polyaenus. Strategemata 6.72.
Cary, M. A History of the Greek World from 323 to 146 B.C.
London: Methuen, 1951, pp. 13, 43, 55, 58.
Macurdy, Grace. Hellenistic Queens. Reprint. Chicago: Ares
Publishers, 1985, pp. 102-104.
[a] Eurydice (4)
(fourth-third century b.c.e.)
Greek: Thrace and Macedonia
political player
Eurydice was a participant in the unending con-
flict for control over Macedonia in the generations
after the death of Alexander the Great. She was the
daughter of Nicaea (i) and the granddaughter of
Antipater, the general Alexander had assigned to
rule Europe when he went to Asia on his last cam-
paign. Her father, Lysimachus, ruled Thrace and
married her mother to enhance the ties between
Antipater and himself. Her sister was Arsinoe I.
Eurydice married her cousin, also named Antipater
who was the son of Thessalonice and Cassander,
ruler of Macedonia. Her marriage thereby extended
into the next generation the historical link between
Thrace and Macedonia.
On the death of her father-in-law, her mother-
in-law divided Macedonia between Eurydice's hus-
band, Antipater, and his brother, Alexander. Her
husband, the elder brother, felt that he should have
inherited all of Macedonia. He killed his mother
and fought with his younger brother. Alexander
appealed for help to the general Demetrius, who
had his own ideas as to who should rule Macedo-
128
Eustochium
nia. He arrived with his troops, murdered Alexan-
der, drove Antipater and Eurydice out of the
country, and made himself ruler.
Eurydice and Antipater fled to her father in
Thrace. Lysimachus eventually made peace with
Demetrius, which resulted in a quarrel with his
son-in-law, Antipater. He had Antipater killed and
then imprisoned Eurydice for siding with her hus-
band. She probably died there, since she ceased to
be an actor in the Macedonian drama.
Sources
Justin. Epitome 16.1, 2.
Macurdy, Grace. Hellenistic Queens. Reprint. Chicago: Ares
Publishers, 1985, pp. 55-58.
Euryleonis
(fourth century b.c.e/
self-made woman
Greek: Sparta
Euryleonis was a wealthy Spartan woman. She was
one of the first three women whose horses won
races at the Olympic Games. Her name was
inscribed on the lists of victors and on inscriptions
that she erected. A statue of Euryleonis commemo-
rating her victory in a two-horse chariot race stood
in the temple of Aphrodite in Sparta.
Sources
Pausanias. Description of Greece 3.17.6.
Pomeroy, Sarah B. Goddesses, Whores, Wives, and Slaves:
Women in Classical Antiquity. New York: Schocken
Books, 1975, p. 130.
[b] Eusebia
(?— 360 c.e.) Greco-Roman: Constantinople
Augusta
Eusebia played an influential role in the policies of
her husband, the emperor Constantius II, third
son of Constantine the Great. A noted beauty
whose father was probably Flavius Eusebius, a for-
mer consul, she became the emperor's second wife
in 353/54.
Eusebia interceded to prevent the execution of
the young future emperor Julian, cousin of the
emperor, on spurious charges. In 355, despite
opposition by some of his advisors, she convinced
her husband to appoint Julian Caesar for the West
on the grounds that it was better to appoint a rela-
tive than anyone else. She was also responsible for
the appointment of her brothers Flavius and Hypa-
tius as consuls in the same year, and she arranged
that no taxes be paid by her family.
Eusebia's great misfortune was her, or her hus-
band's, inability to have children. Malicious gossip
about Eusebia that circulated widely accused her of
injuring Helen, her husband's sister and the wife of
Julian, to avoid Helen's bearing a child. Eusebia
died early in 360, supposedly from a fertility drug.
Sources
Ammiamus Marcellinus. XV. 2.8; 8.3; XVI. 10. 18.
Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire. Vol. I. Edited by
A. H. M. Jones, J. R. Martindale, and J. Morris. Cam-
bridge: Cambridge University Press, 1971. Reprinted
1992, pp. 300-301.
[b] Eustochium
(c. 368-c. 419/420)
Roman: Rome, Palestine
ascetic and Christian scholar
Eustochium chose to remain a virgin, devote herself
to Christ, and live an ascetic life in a community
with other like-minded women. She and her mother,
the elder Paula, founded monasteries in Palestine
where they lived with the famed churchman Jerome
and worked with him on a translation of the com-
plete Bible from Greek to Latin. After the death of
her mother, she restored the heavily indebted mon-
asteries to financial stability and left them secure in
the hands of her niece, the younger Paula.
Eustochium mingled with leaders of the state and
the educated elite who were attracted to Christianity.
She was one of five children from a wealthy patrician
family. Her mother Paula traced her lineage to the
renowned Cornelia (2) . Her father, a senator, was
descended from an old Greek family. Her sisters,
Blaesilla, Paulina, Rufina, and brother, Toxotius,
named after his father, were all well educated and
expected to continue the family tradition.
The fourth century was a period of political and
economic disarray. The debasement of imperial
coinage reflected economic dislocations that reduced
129
Eustochium
agricultural production and income for the poor,
the rich, and the state. The century also witnessed
the development of Christian monasticism, among
both women and men. In Rome, Marcella, a
friend of the family and one of the early renowned
Christian scholars and ascetics, used her house as
a haven for chaste virgins and celibate widows
who chose to live a simple and contemplative life.
Eustochium's mother became a part of Marcellas
Christian circle. After her husband died, she chose
not to remarry and to initiate a monastic lifestyle
for her children and her household. She sent
Eustochium to live with Marcella, who was
increasingly a teacher and scholar of Christianity
as well as an ascetic role model. Eustochium mas-
tered Greek and Hebrew which enabled her to
read the ancient religious texts in their original
languages.
The renowned ascetic and churchman Jerome
arrived in Rome in 382 and changed the lives of
Eustochium and her mother. Paula met him at
Marcellas house where he would read aloud from
the scriptures. He became a spiritual mentor for
both Paula and Eustochium. Eustochium, how-
ever, was still young, and family members, other
than her mother, tried to dissuade her from inten-
sifying her devotion to Christ. Despite family pres-
sure, in 384, when she was about 16, Eustochium
took a vow of perpetual virginity. Jerome took the
occasion to write her one of his longest letters, in
which he outlined the motives for adopting a life
of virginity and the rules to be followed. In
Eustochium, Jerome found a woman with whom
his own complicated ambivalences about women
and sexuality could be safely explored. However,
Eustochium had chosen the ascetic life after reflec-
tion and study with Marcella. Jerome's letters to
her were more a polemic addressed to the uncon-
vinced than a contribution to her spiritual path.
The letters say nothing of her views, except that
she had chosen never to marry.
Jerome came under criticism in Rome for his
close relationship with Paula and for the death of
Blaesilla, who had fallen ill after stringent fasting.
The Roman bishop Damascus, a strong supporter,
died in 384. His successor Siricius disliked Jerome
and Jerome reluctantly left the city for Palestine in
385. Eustochium, her mother, and an entourage of
young women, former servants, and perhaps
eunuchs soon followed. On a 10-day stopover in
Cyprus they met with bishop Epiphaneus and vis-
ited monasteries. They continued to Antioch and
met Jerome. Together, they began a leisurely trip to
Jerusalem, stopping to visit the important holy
sites in Egypt, including the monasteries in the
Nitrea Mountains. In Jerusalem, they visited the
male and female monasteries that the elder Mela-
nia had built. They decided to build their own
monasteries.
The group settled in Bethlehem, where they
lived for some three years while their permanent
quarters were being constructed. Paula was
Eustochium's teacher as she built monasteries for
women and for men as well as a hostelry for travel-
ers. The men's monastery was administered by a
male ascetic under Jerome's direction. The women,
who came from different provinces and social
strata, were divided into three groups and housed
in separate buildings, each led by a woman respon-
sible to Paula. All wore coarse clothing, took part
in the household tasks, and made clothes for them-
selves and others. Each ascetic worked and ate sep-
arately, but came together several times a day in
small groups for prayers, reading from the psalter,
and the singing of hymns. Men and women came
together on Sundays to worship at the Church of
the Holy Sepulchre.
Eustochium and Paula were instrumental in
Jerome's work to create an authoritative translation
of the Greek Bible into Latin. A Latin edition of
the Bible was seriously needed. What had been a
bilingual empire, joined by the multilingual educa-
tion of the elite, was separating according to lan-
guage. Even an admired scholar and church father
like Augustine knew no Greek. Paula and Eustochium
reached back to the older pagan tradition, having
mastered not only Latin and Greek but also
Hebrew. They were the perfect foils for Jerome as
he attempted the arduous task of translation. In
the almost daily meetings with Jerome, they
addressed questions about the interpretation of the
text, uncertainties about the sense of one language
130
Euthydice
expressed in another, and felicities of words and
phrases. Some of the commentaries that he wrote
came from their suggestions, and he dedicated a
number of his works to them.
Eustochium faced a perilous situation in 404
when her mother died. After liberally providing for
the children she left behind in Italy, Paula had
spent all that she possessed and all she could bor-
row. Jerome did not think that Eustochium could
ever repay her mother's debts. Eustochium, how-
ever, was a gifted administrator who confounded
Jerome and not only paid off the debt but put the
monasteries on a sound financial basis. Possibly,
Eustochium turned to her family in Italy for help,
particularly to her brother Toxotius who had been
well endowed by her mother before she encoun-
tered financial difficulties.
Paula and Eustochium had remained in close
contact with their family in Italy. Her brother Tox-
otius and his wife Laeta also felt the pull of asceti-
cism and decided that their daughter, the younger
Paula, should follow her grandmother's and aunt's
footsteps, and that they would not arrange a mar-
riage for her. Laeta wrote to Jerome in Bethlehem
requesting advice on raising her. He urged her to
send the child to Paula and Eustochium. The elder
Paula died before the younger Paula left for Pales-
tine when she was about 13 or 14 years old.
The Roman world changed forever when the
city of Rome fell to the Goths in 410. Palestine,
however, was at the outer reaches of the empire,
and the eddies of change were slower. Business
continued in the traditional fashion. Eustochium
confronted the ever-present need for money to
support the monasteries. In 4 1 6, the younger Paula
was already in Palestine and working with
Eustochium when Jerome wrote to Augustine with
greetings from them and noted that in 4 1 5 the two
women had sent a presbyter named Firmus on
business, first to Ravenna and afterward to Africa
and Sicily, but had not heard from him. Jerome
enclosed a letter to be given to Firmus by Augus-
tine if he could be located. The business most
likely had to do with estates that the women, most
probably the younger Paula, had inherited and
may have wanted sold.
As a comment on the changes in society that
were taking place, Jerome also apologized to Augus-
tine for not sending the Latin translations that
Augustine had requested, since there was a severe
shortage of clerks who knew the written Latin lan-
guage. However, religious controversies continued.
Also in Palestine in 415, a council met at Diospolis
and acquitted Pelegius of heresy. Pelegius developed
an attractive fusion of Neoplatonism and Christi-
anity in which he resolved the vexing issue of the
presence of evil in a world created by God without
evil. He posited that there was no original sin, that
men and women had free will to choose good or
evil, and that over the long course of time they
would choose good. His acquittal was an occasion
for rejoicing among his followers, which became a
riot. Some of the buildings in the monastic com-
pounds of Eustochium and Paula were burned.
In 417, Eustochium and Paula sent a letter to
Innocent, the bishop in Rome, complaining of the
murders, fires, and other outrages in their district
consequent to the findings of the council. Inno-
cent wrote to John, bishop of Jerusalem, demand-
ing to know why he had not protected the victims
and not seized the perpetrators. Before anything
was done, however, Innocent and John died, and
Eustochium followed in 419/20, soon after.
Sources
Jerome. Letter XXII. 2
. Letter XXII. 2, 20.
. Letter X, XXII, CXXXIV, CXXXVII.
McNamara, Jo Anne. "Cornelia's Daughters: Paula and
Eustochium." Women's Studies (1984): 9-27.
Yarbrough, Anne. "Christianization in the Fourth Century:
The Example of Roman Women." Church History 45,
no. 2 (June 1976): 149-165.
[b] Euthydice (Eurydice)
(fourth-third century b.c.e.)
Greek: Athens, Cyrene, and Macedonia
political player
Euthydice (also called Eurydice) fared well in the
turbulent Greek political world of the late fourth
century b.c.e. She came from a prominent Athe-
nian clan, the Philaidaes. Her father, Miltiades,
131
Eutropia, Galeria Valeria
traced his ancestry to the general of the same name
who had won the decisive victory over the Persians
at Marathon in 490 b.c.e. She married Ophelias, a
Macedonian officer in the army of Alexander the
Great and who had joined Ptolemy when he
became ruler of Egypt after Alexanders death. She
went with her husband when Ptolemy sent Ophel-
ias to Cyrene in North Africa where he subdued a
revolt and became a virtually independent ruler,
albeit under the suzerainty of Ptolemy.
Her husband and Agathocles, the tyrant of Syr-
acuse, joined in a campaign to conquer Carthage.
Her name was well known in Athens, and there-
fore many Athenians joined Ophellas's force. The
expedition was not a success. The troops marched
through the desert, and in 309 Agathocles mur-
dered her husband.
After her husband's death, Euthydice returned
to Athens. She married the handsome Demetrius
I, who ruled Macedonia, had collected three wives,
and was at a high point in his turbulent career. She
gave birth to a son, Corrhagus.
Sources
Plutarch. Vitae Parallelae (Parallel Lives): Demetrius 14.2;
20.40; 53.4.
Oxford Classical Dictionary, ed. by Simon Hornblower and
Antony Spawforth. 3d. ed. New York: Oxford Univer-
sity Press, 1996, p. 1,068.
[b] Eutropia, Galeria Valeria
(third-fourth century C.E.)
Roman: Syria, Italy, and Judaea
wife of the co-emperor, early Christian
Galeria Valeria Eutropia outlived her husband
Maximian, coruler of the Roman Empire with
Diocletian, and died a devout Christian. She was
part of a circle of strong, independent, and wealthy
women that included two Augusta — her daughter
Flavia Maxima Fausta, and Helena Flavia Julia
(i), who was the mother of Constantine — and
Constantine's half sister, Flavia Julia Constantia.
All of them influenced the political events and reli-
gious controversies of the day.
Eutropia was born in Syria. Her husband, a
general under the emperor Diocletian, was
appointed Caesar in the West and then co-Augus-
tus. In addition to her daughter Fausta, she had a
son Maxentius. On May 1, 305 c.e., the emperor
Diocletian retired. Her husband reluctantly fol-
lowed, and she settled with him in the court of
Constantine. Maxentius, passed over for succes-
sion in favor of Galarius and Constantine, imme-
diately took up arms and within the year persuaded
his father to support him. The following years
were filled with unsuccessful reconciliations and
wars over succession. In 307, her daughter Fausta
married the future emperor Constantine as part of
her husband's effort to form an alliance between
himself and Maxentius. The effort failed, and
Eutropia found her children on opposite sides of
the struggles for control over the empire, or some
part of it.
Five years later, in 310 Maximian attempted to
seize power and assassinate his son-in-law Con-
stantine. Fausta revealed the plot to her husband.
It failed, and soon after Maximian committed sui-
cide. In 311, Eutropia's son, Maxentius, engaged
in an armed struggle with her son-in-law. A year
later, in 312, Constantine defeated him at the Mil-
vian Bridge in one of the most famous battles of
the later Roman Empire. It was not much of a bat-
tle; Maxentius died by drowning in the Tiber.
However, this was the military encounter in which
Constantine was said to have successfully tested
the power of Christianity to bring him victory.
Thereafter, Christianity, despite setbacks, was on
the rise.
All during these conflicts among her kin, before
and after her husband's death, Eutropia appears to
have remained at Constantine's court. She, her
daughter, Constantine's half sister, and his mother
formed a nucleus of Christian women around
whom probably gathered women of lesser rank
and clerics. Constantia and Helena were close to
the priests Arrius and Eusebius, and Helena has
long been credited by some with bringing Christi-
anity to her son.
After the death of her husband, Eutropia trav-
eled to visit Christian holy places. Her life
becomes less well documented although she is
132
Eutropia, Galeria Valeria
known to have visited the site of Mambre, revered Sources
by Jews and Christians. Constantine arranged Barnes, Timothy. The New Empire of Diocletian and Con-
for shrines to be erected after she reported that stantine. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1982,
the site was being defiled by Jews and pagans pp. 33, 34.
with their markets and fairs. She probably died Lane Fox, Robin. Pagans and Christians. New York: Alfred
soon after. ' ' A. Knopf, 1987, p. 674.
133
F
6N0
Fabia
(first century b.c.e.
priestess
Roman: Rome
Fabia was a Vestal Virgin at the temple of Vesta in
the Forum. In 73 b.c.e. she was accused of licen-
tious behavior with Lucius Sergius Catiline, a
young Roman patrician who led a conspiracy
against the Senate that was successfully squelched
by Fabia's brother-in-law Marcus Tullius Cicero,
consul in 63 b.c.e. Fabia was exonerated.
In 58 she gave her half sister Terentia (i),
Cicero's wife, sanctuary during the turbulent year
of her husband's exile. She and Terentia were well-
to-do women, and Fabia may have provided Teren-
tia with cash until she could raise money from her
own estates.
Sources
Asconius. Commentary on Cicero's Pro Milone 91c.
Cicero. In Catalinum 3, 9.
Balsdon, J. P. V. D. Roman Women. New York: John Day
Comp., 1963, p. 239.
[a] Fabiola
(?-c. 399 c.e.) Roman: Rome, Palestine
founder of the first charity hospital in Europe
Fabiola lived with conflict and passion. Her life rico-
cheted between extremes of violence and repentance,
celibacy and marriage, and wealth and poverty. She
walked in sackcloth to ask forgiveness for her sins,
founded Europe's first public hospital for the poor,
and studied with the eminent ascetic Jerome. Fabiola
lived as a wealthy and worldly Roman matron
through two marriages. Although she gave her
money to the poor, like many other wealthy women,
she retained enough to support herself, her travels,
and her projects. Unlike women who founded mon-
asteries, however, Fabiola had an innovative vision of
Christian charity, rooted in social action.
Fabiola came from a Roman patrician clan, the
Fabia, converted to Christianity at a young age,
and made an unfortunate first marriage. Her hus-
band was violent and unfaithful. She obtained a
divorce under civil law which recognized a wom-
an's right to initiate divorce proceedings and to
claim compensation for cause. She remarried,
which was legal and desirable in upper-class Roman
society where there was no clear role for an unmar-
ried young man or woman. However, divorce and
remarriage, even with cause, was not the Christian
way in the fourth and fifth centuries. In addition,
the growing ascetic movement elevated the value
of lifelong celibacy, and, for the first time in the
Greco-Roman world, never having married was
more admired than being married. While it
remained acceptable for a widow to remarry, it was
134
Fadia
the celibate widow and never-married virgin who
were the more celebrated.
After the death of her second husband, Fabiola
changed. Jerome, who wrote a warm and loving
letter about her after her death, claimed that she
saw the light of God. Dressed in sackcloth, Fabiola
paraded back and forth in front of the Lateran
Basilica, the largest church in Rome and home to
the bishop, to seek forgiveness for her divorce and
remarriage outside the church and to atone for her
sins with public penance. Her intensity and per-
haps theatricality impressed the bishop and she
was allowed to take communion.
Fabiola sold her extensive properties and began
to support monasteries and the poor throughout
Italy. In Rome, she established the first public hos-
pital, open to anyone in need. The application of
the Christian principle of nondiscrimination for
those in need was so unusual at the time that she
had to walk the streets to find sick people and
according to Jerome she would sometimes carry
them to the hospital on her back. Fabiola tended
to the sick herself, bathing, feeding, and cleansing
their wounds, undeterred by unsightly injuries or
infectious diseases. She also founded a nursing
home adjacent to the hospital for anyone who
needed additional time to recover and had no one
to care for them, another application of Christian
principles revolutionary to the period.
Fabiola's hospital and nursing home were very
much needed. During the third and fourth centu-
ries, the cities had ever-larger numbers of people
on the streets and uncared for as economic disloca-
tions upset historical networks of private patron-
age that had provided a basic social net. The very
rich became more dependent on imperial favor
and largesse than on the numbers of clients who
waited outside their door for their attention, and
too many landless poor had drifted into the city
without work or family. An always harsh world
had become harsher. Christian charity was wel-
come news. Fabiola provided a model for charily
hospitals throughout Christendom, which extends
to the present day.
Fabiola visited Jerome, the elder Paula, and
Eustochium in Bethlehem in 394. As with most
women of her time and class, she had a fine educa-
tion which enabled her to read and write Greek
and Hebrew as well as Latin. She also had an
inquiring mind that found a mentor in Jerome,
who liked smart, educated women and the role of
intellectual guide. A threatened attack by the Ger-
mans was on the horizon and Fabiola returned to
Rome, having visited for less than a year. Her
innovative social reforms, however, were not over.
Once back, she established a hospice for travelers,
as well as a resting place for the poor and sick at
Portus, two miles north of Ostia. The need must
have been in the air. Pammachus, son-in-law of the
elder Paula and the widower of her daughter Pau-
lina, had a similar plan. After his wife's death, he
became a monk, an urban ascetic, who dressed in
rough robes and sought to use his wealth for the
poor. They established independent hospices until
it became apparent to Fabiola that collaboration
would enhance both their efforts. The collabora-
tion lasted until Fabiola died not long after in
399/400.
Sources
Jerome. Letter LXIV, LXXVII.
Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire. Vol. I. Edited by
A. H. M. Jones, J. R. Martindale, and J. Morris. Cam-
bridge: Cambridge University Press, 1971. Reprinted
1992, p. 323.
[a] Fadia
(first century b.c.e.)
Roman: Italy and Greece
ignored wife
Fadia was the de facto wife of Mark Antony during
the period when he studied in Athens. They had at
least one child, and their relationship was suffi-
ciently well acknowledged for Marcus Tullius
Cicero to attack Antony in the second Philippic as
the son-in-law of a lowborn freedman. Fadia's
father was the freedman Quintus Fadius.
Sources
Cicero. Orationes Philippicae 2.2, 4.
Pauly, A., G. Wissowa, and W. Kroll. Real-Encyclopadie
d. Classischen Altertumswissenschaft 1893— (Germany:
multiple publishers) 3.
135
Fannia (I)
Fannia (I)
(first century b.c.e.)
litigant
Roman: Rome
Fannia married Gaius Titinius from the city of
Minturnae, located on the coast southeast of
Rome. He divorced her and in 100 b.c.e., applied
to retain her dowry on account of her immoral
character. Fannia argued that Titinius had known
her character before they married. The adjudicator
was the consul Gaius Marius, the famous general.
Marius established that Titinius had married
Fannia fully aware of her reputation and with the
intention of divorcing her and keeping the dowry.
He advised him to drop the case. Titinius refused.
Marius fined Fannia a small sum and fined Titinius
an amount equal to the value of the dowry to be
paid to Fannia.
In 88 Fannia returned the favor by hiding Gaius
Marius in her house when he was fleeing after his
defeat by Lucius Cornelius Sulla.
Sources
Valerius Maximus. Factorum et dictorum memorabilium
libri 1X8.2.3.
Balsdon, J. P. V. D. Roman Women. New York: John Day
Comp., 1963, p. 220.
Bauman, Richard A. Women and Politics in Ancient Rome.
London: Routledge, 1994, pp. 49-51.
Fannia (2)
(?-107 c.e.;
stoic; exiled
Roman: Italy
Fannia was an educated, cultured, and determined
woman who lived a principled life. She was the
daughter of the younger Arria and Publius
Claudius Thrasea Paetus, as well as the grand-
daughter of the elder Arria and Caecina Paetus.
Like her parents and grandparents, she was a fol-
lower of the Stoics.
Fannia married the elder Helvidius Priscus, who
was already 55 years old and had a son, Helvidius
Priscus, and a daughter-in-law, Anteia. Fannia
and her mother voluntarily accompanied her hus-
band into exile in 66 c.e. after the death of her
father, Thrasea Paetus. They returned after the
accession of the emperor Galba in 69. Her hus-
band became praetor in 70 while still a supporter
of Vespasian, who had become emperor after Gal-
ba's assassination in 69. Vespasian became increas-
ingly angered with Priscus's persistent efforts to
prosecute and discredit those whose false charges
had brought about his own exile and the death of
his fatherin-law during the previous regime. On
Vespasian's orders, Priscus was again exiled, and
Fannia and her mother again left with him. He was
killed while in exile.
Fannia and Arria returned after the death of
Vespasian. The new emperor, Domitian, was no
friend of art, philosophy or dissent, principled or
otherwise. In relatively short order, Fannia's step-
son, the younger Helvidius Priscus, was con-
demned for writing a farce that Domitian believed
to be a reflection on his own divorce. In 93 Domi-
tian executed Priscus and in an effort to rid himself
of dissenters, ordered all philosophers out of
Rome.
A laudatory memoir of Priscus began to circu-
late in Rome. Fannia and her mother were tried for
their support of the memoir written by Herennius
Senecio. At the trial, Senecio declared that he had
written the work at the behest of Fannia, which
she corroborated and added that she had not only
commissioned the work but had made private
material available to Senecio. In her testimony
Fannia sought to exonerate her mother from any
responsibility; both were nonetheless exiled. Fan-
nia retained a copy of the memoir, despite the Sen-
ate's order that all copies be destroyed.
In 96, after Nerva succeeded Domitian, Fannia
and Arria returned to Rome. At the request of
Pliny the Younger, a family friend, Fannia and
Arria joined Anteia in a suit to restore Priscus's
name and recover damages. The case was contro-
versial, and the Senate was split. Pliny was pressed
to drop the charges. Many among the elite felt
that, should he succeed, they too would then be
exposed to similar prosecution.
Fannia probably died in 107. She had con-
tracted tuberculosis from nursing her relative Junia
(3), who was a Vestal Virgin.
136
Fausta, Flavia Maxima
Sources
Tacitus. Annates 16.34-35.
Pliny the Younger. Epistulae 3. II. 16; 7.19.
Balsdon, J. P. V. D. Roman Women. New York: John Day
Comp., 1963, pp. 58-59.
Pauly, A., G. Wissowa, and W. Kroll. Real-Encyclopadie
d. Classischen Altertumswissenschaft 1893— (Germany:
multiple publishers) 6.
Cicero. Epistulae ad Atticum 5.8, 2f.
. Pro Milone 28.55.
Macrobius. Saturnalia 2.2, 9.
Balsdon, J. P. V. D. Roman Women. New York: John Day
Comp., 1963, p. 55.
Pauly, A., G. Wissowa, and W. Kroll. Real-Encyclopadie
d. Classischen Altertumswissenschaft 1893— (Germany:
multiple publishers) 436.
Fausta
(first century b.c.e.)
political player
Roman: Rome
Fausta and her twin brother, Faustus Cornelius Sulla,
were children of the general and dictator Lucius Cor-
nelius Sulla and Caecilia Metella (i) of the
wealthy and prominent Metelli family, who bank-
rolled part of her husband s rise to power. She was a
half sister of Aemilia (2). Faustas first husband was
Gaius Memmius, who served as tribune and later as
praetor. They were divorced in 55 b.c.e.
In 54 Fausta married Titus Annius Milo. Her
husband's fiercest political opponent, Publius Clo-
dius Pulcher, campaigned to become tribune while
her husband sought election as consul. In January
52, Fausta was with her husband when the two
men and their entourages met accidentally on the
street. A fight ensued, and Milo had Clodius killed.
Milo was charged, tried, and exiled.
Fausta remained in Rome while Milo went into
exile. Milo asked his colleague, Marcus Tullius
Cicero, to take care of his confiscated estate and
provide that Fausta would secure the portion of
the property that was reserved for her. Cicero ful-
filled his obligations and left Fausta with modest
means to support herself.
Rumors swirled around Fausta. It was whis-
pered that she had not been true to either of her
husbands and that Milo had found her in bed with
the historian Sallust. However, she and Milo never
divorced, despite stories about her sexual exploits
that continued into the last days of the republic,
some even attributed to her twin brother.
Sources
Asconius. Commentary on Cicero's Pro Milone 28.55
Aulus Gellius. Noctes Atticae 17, 18.
[b] Fausta, Flavia Maxima
(289/290-324/325 c.e.)
Roman: Italy, Gaul, Asia, and North Africa
Augusta
Flavia Maxima Fausta died on orders of her hus-
band, the emperor Constantine, for reasons that are
obscure. Born in 289 or 290 c.e., she was the
daughter of the co-emperor Maximian and his wife,
Galeria Valeria Eutropia. Fausta and the future
emperor Constantine signed a marriage contract in
293 when her father sought to strengthen relations
with Constantine after his elevation to the status of
Caesar. Fausta was 3 or 4 years old at the time of
the contract signing, and Constantine, 19. They
married 14 years later in 307, by which time her
father had once retired and then re-entered the fray
of armed conflict in support of his son who had
been passed over for succession. A closer union
with Constantine, however, remained desirable. In
311, Fausta warned Constantine that her father
plotted to murder him while her slept. Maximian
was seized and allowed to commit suicide. Her
mother remained at Constantines court.
Around 324, after Constantine became sole
emperor, Fausta and her mother-in-law, Helena
Flavia Julia (i), assumed the title of Augusta.
Fausta, Eutropia, Helena, and Constantines half
sister Flavia Julia Constantly formed a powerful
group of independentminded and wealthy women
around Constantine. Although nothing has been
recorded of Faustas religious persuasion, the other
three women were active Christians and very much
a part of the evolving church.
The events of the subsequent years are unclear.
In 326 when Fausta was 36 or 37 years old some-
thing sparked her death. Possibly at the urging of
her mother-in-law Helena, Fausta died, scalded to
137
Faustina, Aelia Flavia Maxima
death in the baths, either by accident, suicide, or
intention. Constantine also poisoned his popular
son, the 20-year-old Crispus, whose dead mother
had been Constantine's longstanding lover before
he married Fausta. At the same time, Licinius, the
12-year-old son of his half sister Constantia, was
killed. Later commentators have speculated that
Fausta had been involved in the death of Crispus
and Licinius to protect her own sons. Alternatively,
conflict between Fausta and her powerful mother-
in-law may have erupted into conspiracy or con-
frontation with Constantine.
Fausta had three sons — Constantine II, Con-
stantius, and Constans — and two daughters —
Constantia, who married Callus Caesar (35 1-354),
and Helena, who married the emperor Julian
(361-363).
Sources
Epitome de Caesaribus, 41.11 ff.
Eutropius. Breviarium ab urbe condita 6.10
Zosimus. New History/Zosimus. A translation with com-
mentary by Ronald T. Ridley. Canberra: Australian
Association of Byzantine Studies, 1982, 2.29
Balsdon, J. P. V. D. Roman Women. New York: John Day
Comp., 1963, pp. 167, 169-170.
Barnes, Timothy. The New Empire of Diocletian and Con-
stantine. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1982.
[b] Faustina, Aelia Flavia Maxima
(fourth century C.E.)
Roman: Constantinople
Augusta
Flavia Maxima Faustina married Constantine II in
360. He was the son of Constantine the Great and
she was his third wife. Her husband died a year
later in 361 while campaigning. After his death,
her daughter Constantia (2) was born. Mother
and daughter lived in Constantinople. A usurper,
Procopius, led a revolt among the troops and
claimed the title of emperor. Whether Faustina
was or was not a part of the plot remains unknown.
However, Procopius induced Faustina, along with
her four-year-old daughter, to accompany him as
he led his troops into battle. Despite his effort to
establish legitimacy through the visible presence of
mother and daughter, the revolt soon crumbled.
Nothing more is known about Faustina,
although her daughter Constantia later married
the emperor Gratian.
Sources
Ammiamus Marcellinus. xxi. 6, 4; (15, 6); xxvi. 7, 10; 9,
3.6.
Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire. Vol. I. Edited by
A. H. M. Jones, J. R. Martindale, and J. Morris. Cam-
bridge: Cambridge University Press, 1971. Reprinted
1992, p. 326.
[b] Faustina the Elder, Annia Galeria
(c. 94-140/141 c.e.)
Roman: Baetica/Narbonensis, Italy, and Asia
Augusta
Annia Galeria Faustina lived a privileged life that
brought her honor, influence, and wealth during a
period without any wars of succession or civil
strife. Educated and intelligent, she came from the
new elite of distinguished provincial families that
emerged with the emperor Trajan and became the
Antonine dynasty. She was the daughter of Marcus
Annius Verus, consul in 126 c.e. Her mother,
Rupilia Faustina, was descended from republican
nobility. At about 16 years old, around 110, she
married the future emperor Antoninus Pius. They
had four children, two sons and two daughters,
one of whom was the younger Faustina, the future
wife of the emperor Marcus Aurelius.
Faustina's husband was twice her age and very
wealthy. They lived primarily on their estates in
Italy and in the oldest settled parts of Spain and
Gaul. They traveled together, and she accompa-
nied her husband to Asia for his proconsulship.
Some 1 8 years after her marriage, her husband was
chosen by Hadrian as his successor. Hadrian
adopted her husband, and her husband, in turn,
adopted both the later emperor Marcus Aurelius
and Lucius Verus to establish a line of succession.
When it became obvious that Verus would not
become the next emperor, her husband left to her
the delicate negotiation that arranged for their
daughter Faustinas marriage to Marcus Aurelius,
instead of to Verus as had been originally planned.
138
Faustina the Younger, Annia Galeria
Becoming the imperial couple dramatically
transformed their lives. Although always wealthy
there nonetheless was a significant difference
between the lifestyle of a private couple and that of
an imperial couple. The household now included
the feeding and housing of all those closely associ-
ated with the emperor. Moreover, the entire house-
hold moved with the emperor. Immediately after
he assumed the role of emperor, it was reported
that Faustina approached her husband about insuf-
ficient funds for household expenses, to which he
was said to have replied that now that he was
emperor there would never be sufficient funds.
The couple was always in the spotlight and faced
with malicious court gossip. Her husband consis-
tently ignored what he heard that suggested Fausti-
nas sexual or other kinds of moral deficiencies.
In 138 Faustina was honored by the Senate
with the title of Augusta and accorded the right to
have coins struck in her name. She died shortly
thereafter in 140 or 141 c.e. A temple was built
and dedicated to her with suitable endowments
and a priesthood. In 145, her husband named a
new charity after her, Puellae Faustinianae, for des-
titute girls. Gold and silver statues of her voted by
the Senate were paid for by her husband, who did
not remarry. She left her personal fortune to her
daughter, Faustina.
Sources
Scriptores Historiae Augustae. Antoninus Pius 1.7; 3.8; 5.2;
6.7-8.
Balsdon, J. P. V. D. Roman Women. New York: John Day
Comp., 1963, pp. 142, 144, 145.
Oxford Classical Dictionary, ed. by Simon Hornblower and
Antony Spawforth. 3d. ed. New York: Oxford Univer-
sity Press, 1996, p. 99.
Syme, Ronald. Tacitus, 1 vols. Oxford: Clarendon Press,
1958, p. 605.
[b] Faustina the Younger, Annia Galeria
(125/130-175 c.e.)
Roman: Italy, Asia, Gaul, and Germany
Augusta
Faustina was born between 125 and 130 c.e. to the
emperor Antoninus Pius and the elder Faustina.
On both sides of her family she came from provin-
cial nobility, and her parents intended that she be
the wife of her father s successor. She was originally
affianced to Lucius Verus, but her mother arranged,
after her father became emperor, that she instead
wed her cousin Marcus Aurelius. The agreement
took place in 139. They married in 145. One of
their daughters was Annia Aurelia Galeria Lucilla.
Faustina was intelligent, well educated, and
independently wealthy since childhood, with an
inheritance from her mother who had unexpect-
edly died in 140 or 141 c.e. An active woman, she
traveled widely with the emperor despite regular
pregnancies and the birth of 12 children. Faustina
was granted the title of Augusta and the right to
mint coins in 147. During her lifetime she accrued
additional titles from cities around the empire.
Her presence, with one of her young daughters, at
the German front in Sirmium where her husband
was campaigning near the Danube between 170
and 174, led to her title "Mother of the Camp."
From fragments of Faustina's letters to her hus-
band reported in the ancient sources, it is clear that
they regularly discussed the affairs of state, even
Annia Galeria Faustina the Younger
(Date: 161 C.E.-175 C.E. 1944.100.49230, Archives,
American Numismatic Society)
139
Flaccilla, Aelia Flavia
military affairs. They sometimes disagreed. She
urged Aurelius to impose the fullest possible extent
of punishment on Gaius Avidius Cassius, the
supreme military commander in the East who
raised a revolt. Her husband, however, granted
clemency to Cassius's family.
She was the most visible woman in the empire
and always subject to gossip. On more than one
occasion she was denounced to the emperor for
treason or adultery. When faced with one such
accusation, the emperor was said to have responded
that if he were to divorce Faustina, she could
reclaim her dowry, and since his position as
emperor rested on his adoption by her father, he
wondered whether he would have to return to her
the empire.
Faustina died suddenly in 175 far from home in
Cappadocia near the Taurus Mountains. Marcus
Aurelius had her consecrated by the Roman Senate
and established an endowment for poor girls in her
name, as one had been endowed in the name of
her mother.
Sources
Scriptores Historiae Augustae. Aurelian. 6.2.6; 19.2—9;
26.5-9; 29.1-3.
Balsdon, J. P. V. D. Roman Women. New York: John Day
Comp., 1963, pp. 141-147.
Oxford Classical Dictionary, ed. By Simon Homblower and
Antony Spawforth. 3d. ed. New York: Oxford Univer-
sity Press, 1966, p. 99.
[b] Flaccilla, Aelia Flavia
(?— 386 c.e.) Roman: Spain, Constantinople
Augusta
Aelia Flavia Flaccilla, first wife of Theodosius the
Great, had gold, silver, and bronze coins issued
with her portrait wearing the diadem (royal pur-
ple headband) and the imperial fibula (brooch)
that signified the power and authority to rule.
She was the first woman raised to the rank of
Augusta since the reign of Constantine the Great
early in the century, and never before had the
iconography of the coins suggested the public
assimilation of imperial power into the status of
Augusta.
Flaccilla's portrayal on the coinage reflected a
conscious imperial policy to promote a family
dynasty. Flaccilla came from an elite Spanish fam-
ily and married Theodosius in 376, during his
temporary retirement from the army and imperial
service. She became Augusta about 384, after
Honorius was born. He was her third child. Her
son Arcadius later became emperor in the East.
Her daughter Pulcheria died when she was only
nine or ten years old.
Flaccilla was a devout and orthodox Christian
and, amid the splintered and competing Christian
factions of the times, never hesitated to use her
position on behalf of the orthodox agenda. She
dissuaded her husband from meeting the respected
Arian bishop Eunomlius of Cyzicus, fearful that he
would influence the emperor. She followed the
new Christian path of women's piety and provided
aid for the poor and sick, as well as widows and
orphans. Modeling her behavior on scripture and
on the efforts of women across the empire to give
substance to Christianity, she deviated radically
from her elite upbringing and visited hospitals,
personally feeding the patients. Her humanitarian
efforts gained her popular favor and contributed to
the reorienting of women's virtuous behavior by
moderating Roman imperiousness based on birth
and class with the new orthodoxy of Christian
classless rhetoric. Her daughter-in-law Aelia
Eudoxia and her granddaughter Pulcheria effec-
tively combined the new piety to expand the power
and authority of imperial women encapsulated in
the images of Flavia on the imperial coinage.
Flavia died in Thrace in 386. Gregory of Nyssa,
bishop of Constantinople, delivered an eulogy that
claimed the empire felt her death more than earth-
quakes, floods, or wars. A statue in her honor was
erected in the house of the Senate.
Sources
Gregory of Nyssa. Oratorio funebris in Flaccillam
Imperatricem.
Sozomen. Historia Ecclesiastica. 7.6.3.
Theodoret. Historia Ecclesiastica. 5.18, 2-3; 19.
Brill's New Pauly: Encyclopedia of the Ancient World: Classi-
cal Tradition, Vol. 5, edited by Manfred Landfester et al.
Boston: Brill, 2002, p. 448.
140
Fulvia(l)
Holum, Kenneth G. Theodosian Empresses: Women and
Imperial Dominion in Late Antiquity. Berkeley: Univer-
sity of California Press, 1982, index.
Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire. Vol. I. Edited by
A. H. M. Jones, J. R. Martindale, and J. Morris. Cam-
bridge: Cambridge University Press, 1971. Reprinted
1992, pp. 341-342.
Pauly, A., G. Wissowa, and W. Kroll. Real-Encyclopadie d.
Classischen Altertumswissenschaff 1 893 (Germany: mul-
tiple publishers) VI. (1909) 2,431-2,433.
Flora
(first century b.c.e/
self-made woman
Roman: Rome
Flora, whose origins, status, and family remain
unknown, was so beautiful that the rich and illus-
trious Caecilius Metellus included a portrait of her
among the decorations in the Forum's ancient
temple of Castor and Pollux, with which his family
was associated.
She was the lover of Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus
(Pompey the Great), an often-married man whose
appeal to women was well attested by the caring and
devotion of his wives. Flora was reputed to have said
that she never left the embraces of Pompey without
the marks of his teeth to evidence his passion. She
refused the advances of Pompey's friend Geminus,
claiming devotion to Pompey. Geminus went to
Pompey, who offered no opposition. To her great
distress, he also ended his affair with her.
Sources
Plutarch. Vitae Parallelae (Parallel Lives): Pompeius 2.3.
Floronia
(?-2l6 B.C.E.)
priestess
Roman: Rome
Floronia was one of the six Vestal Virgins serving
in 216 b.c.e. in the temple ofVesta, one of the old-
est temples in the Forum. She and a sister priestess,
Opimia, were convicted for licentious behavior.
Floronias lover, Lucius Cantilius, a scribe and a
member of a minor order of the priestly college,
was beaten to death. She was either buried alive or
committed suicide before she could be entombed.
The improper behavior of the Vestals was con-
sidered a harbinger of ill omen for the city. The
devastating defeat of the Romans by Hannibal and
the Carthaginians at Cannae in the same year was
perceived as retribution for Floronia and Opimia's
misdeeds.
Sources
Livy. From the Founding of the City 22.57.2—5.
Fulvia(l)
(first century b.c.e.)
political player
Roman: Italy
Fulvia was a member of a prominent Roman fam-
ily and socialized with the political elite of her day.
Her lover was Quintus Curius, also from a promi-
nent family. Curius had financial problems, and it
was rumored that Fulvia needed more money than
he could provide. After he was ejected from the
Senate, Curius joined the conspiracy led by the
thwarted patrician Lucius Sergius Catiline in 63 b.
c.e. From his boastful and threatening behavior,
Fulvia drew from Curius information about the
developing conspiracy.
Catiline was in debt and had failed in his
attempts to win high office. He began to organize
discontented veterans and small landowners. He
was joined by a group of men and women from
respectable and even elite families who also suf-
fered from the effects of inflation on fixed incomes.
They planned to take over Rome.
Fulvia arranged with Marcus Tullius Cicero,
consul in 63, to act as a conduit of information
about the conspiracy. Cicero promised Fulvia that
her lover Curius would be rewarded for his role as
informant. As their situation became more desper-
ate, Catiline and his conspirators decided to set fire
to Rome and murder Cicero. The plot failed. Ful-
via informed Cicero of the planned attempt on his
life. Catiline left Rome, and he and his followers
were declared public enemies by the Senate. Julius
Caesar convinced the Senate that Curius should
not receive the large reward that had been prom-
ised by Cicero.
Catiline was killed in battle, and five of his ring-
leaders were executed in Rome after Cicero
obtained written evidence of their plot. Nothing
more is heard of Fulvia.
141
Fulvia (2)
Sources
Sallust. Bellum Catilinae 23.3 ff.; 26.3; 28 2.
Balsdon, J. P. V. D. Roman Women. New York: John Day
Comp., 1963, p. 49.
Bauman, Richard A. Women and Politics in Ancient Rome.
London: Routledge, 1994, pp. 67-69.
Pauly, A., G. Wissowa, and W. Kroll. Real-Encyclopadie d.
Klassischen Altertumswissenschaft 1893. (Germany:mul-
riple publishers) 113.
Hj Fulvia (2)
(?— 40 b.c.e.) Roman: Italy and Greece
political player
Fulvia was indomitable and fearless. She had an
implacable determination and possessed a spirit
and strength of character unmatched by any of her
three husbands. Among the many strong and inde-
pendent women of the late republic, Fulvia holds a
unique position. She alone among these Roman
women crossed the gender boundary and stepped
into the male preserve of military action during
civil war.
Fulvia was the wealthy daughter of Marcus Ful-
vius Bambalio and Sempronia, both from atrophy-
ing ancient families. Her mother was the sister of
Sempronia (2), who was said to have had a part in
the conspiracy of Lucius Sergius Cataline in 63
b.c.e. Fulvia's first husband was the brash, tempes-
tuous, and sometimes brilliant aristocrat Publius
Clodius Pulcher. His oratory in favor of populist
positions was supported by armed bands in his tri-
buneship of 58 b.c.e.
Clodius again campaigned for tribune while a
bitter enemy, Titus Annius Milo, campaigned for
consul. They accidentally met on the road in Janu-
ary 52. Fulvia was with her husband surrounded
by their retinue. A dispute ensued, and Milo had
Clodius killed. Fulvia brought Clodius's body back
to Rome, where she placed it in the courtyard of
their house and incited the crowd with a display of
his wounds. The body was carried into the Senate
and burned as the Senate house itself caught fire.
Milo was tried. He was defended by Marcus
Tullius Cicero, consul in 63 and the man responsi-
ble for thwarting the earlier conspiracy led by Cat-
iline in which Fulvia's aunt may have had some
part. There was a history of enmity, however,
between the opposing sides in the trial. Nearly a
decade earlier, Cicero had spoken on behalf of the
prosecution against Clodius, who had been caught
in the house of Julius Caesar disguised as a woman
during the women-only rites of the Bona Dea.
Rumor had it that Clodius was there for an assig-
nation with Caesar's wife, Pompeia (i). He was
declared innocent by a heavily bribed jury. Clodius
became Cicero's sworn enemy; as tribune in 58, he
secured Cicero's exile. At the trial, Fulvia testified.
She also arranged the public lamentations of her
mother, among others, that aroused the sympa-
thies of the onlookers. Milo was convicted and
sent into exile. Cicero transferred his enmity from
Fulvia's husband to her.
With Clodius, Fulvia had a daughter, Claudia
(5), and a son, Publius Claudius, who later became
praetor. Her second husband was Gaius Scribonius
Curio, tribune in 50 b.c.e. and another brilliant
orator. He became an ally of Julius Caesar from
whom he received a large monetary gift. He served
under Caesar in 49 and was killed in a military
campaign in Africa. Their son, Scribonius Curio,
was executed by Octavian after his victory at
Actium in 31 b.c.e.
After her second husband's death, Fulvia mar-
ried Mark Antony by 45 b.c.e. A year later, in 44,
Cicero accused Fulvia and Mark Antony of taking
bribes and selling properties and favors for vast
sums of money. The attack was directed against
Fulvia. Cicero claimed that Fulvia conducted
property auctions in the women's quarters of Anto-
ny's house and that Antony preferred an avaricious
Fulvia to the Roman Senate and people. In Janu-
ary 43, enemies of Antony, led by Cicero, attempted
to have the Senate declare Antony a public enemy.
Fulvia, her mother-in-law, Julia (2), and their sup-
porters visited the houses of key senators during
the night to secure their vote against the motion.
The next morning, dressed in mourning clothes,
they buttonholed senators on their way to the Sen-
ate with lamentations and cries. Their claim that it
was contrary to Roman law to declare a citizen a
public enemy without a trial, no doubt persuaded
142
Fulvia (2)
some. All in all the women enabled Antony's sup-
porters to defeat the bill.
After Antony's defeat at Mutina in April 43,
however, he left Italy and was declared an outlaw
by the Senate. In Rome, Antony's enemies insti-
tuted a series of lawsuits against Fulvia to deprive
her of her property. Titus Pomponius Atticus
Cicero's closest friend and one of the wealthiest
and most generally respected men in Rome, aided
Fulvia. He accompanied her to court, provided the
necessary surety to assure her future legal appear-
ances, and lent her money without interest or
security to enable her to make the payments due
on the estate that she had purchased before Anto-
ny's exile.
Fulvia worked to enhance Antony's position in
relation to the two other members of the ruling
Second Triumvirate, Octavian and Lepidus. In 43,
when the triumvirate was formed, Claudia, Fulvia's
daughter with Clodius, was to become the first
wife of Octavian and cement the alliance. The tri-
umvirs proscribed Cicero, and he was killed on
December 7, 43. It was said that his head was sent
to Fulvia and Antony. The ancient sources are uni-
formly hostile to Fulvia and embroidered her
response to Cicero's death in gruesome detail. They
depict her as avaricious and cruel. Her avarice was
specifically blamed for the death of Quintus Salvi-
dienus Rufus. After his name appeared on the lists,
he offered her his house, said to be the reason she
had had him proscribed. It was to no avail. He was
killed.
Proscriptions raised needed money as well as rid
the triumvirs of real and imagined enemies. Still,
money was a problem. At one point, the triumvirs
ordered the 1,400 richest women in Rome to pro-
vide an evaluation of their property preparatory to
a special tax. The women protested. The women's
arguments, as articulated by Hortensia, spoke to
their unique position. They argued that this was
not a war against an outside enemy, as had been
the war against Hannibal when women willingly
surrendered their personal wealth. This was a civil
war in which husbands and sons fought against
brothers and cousins. This was not their war,
according to the women. They were supported by
Antony's mother, Julia, and by the independent-
minded Octavia (2), who was Octavian's sister,
but not by Fulvia.
Lucius Antonius, the brother of Antony, became
consul, along with Publius Servilius, in 41, while
Antony went to the East. Fulvia and Lucius worked
together closely in Antony's interests. They largely
dominated the political scene in Rome. They espe-
cially sought to assure Antony honor for the distri-
butions to the troops, since he, not Octavian, had
been responsible for the defeat of Brutus and Cas-
sius at the battle of Philippi in 42. Their anti-Octa-
vian policy extended into the prosperous regions of
Umbria, Etruria, and the Sabine country north of
Rome. They attempted to form a coalition there of
soldiers and property owners against Octavian after
protests against Octavian's confiscations for the
resettlement of veterans.
Furious at Fulvia's opposition, Octavian offi-
cially divorced Claudia in 41, after a two-year mar-
riage that was never consummated. She had been a
child at the time of the union, which was primarily
a politically symbolic act, as was the divorce. Octa-
vian also publically read a copy of the pact Antony
had made with the soldiers in Rome who were
against war and demanded a settlement. With
Antony still in the East, however, Fulvia backed
Lucius Antonius in support of the Italian cities
against Octavian. The Perusine War ensued. Lucius
Antonius marched into Rome without opposition
and then left to advance north in order to link up
with Antony's generals, who controlled the Gallic
provinces.
Fulvia and Lucius Antonius sent messages to
Antony. They urged his generals in Italy and Gaul
to assist them. Octavian was in a precarious posi-
tion both on land and at sea. If Antony's cohorts
had united against him, Octavian could not have
received reinforcements and most probably would
have been defeated. However, without direct
instructions from Mark Antony, most of the gen-
erals did not act. Lucius Antonius went to the
ancient city of Perusia north of Rome, where he
was surrounded by the forces of Octavian. Fulvia,
who was not in Perusia, persuaded some of Anto-
ny's forces to aid Lucius.
143
Fulvia (2)
Octavian launched a vitriolic and obscene attack
on Fulvia as the main instigator in the Perusine War
since she was the most vulnerable. Octavian feared
to offend Antony, and Lucius Antonius's republican
principles made an attack on him equally undesir-
able. Lucius Antonius surrendered early in 40, and
Octavian appointed him governor of Spain in order
to maintain good relations with Antony. Fulvia fled
to Greece with her children. Antony blamed her no
less than had Octavian. He left her in the city of
Sicyon, where she became ill and died.
Fulvia and Antony had two sons. The eldest,
Antyllus, was executed on Octavian's orders after
Antony's defeat at Actium. The other, Iullus Anto-
nius, was brought up in the household of Octavia,
the emperor's sister and Antony's wife after divorc-
ing Fulvia.
Sources
Appian. Roman History: Bella civilian (Civil Wars) 3.51;
4.29.32; 5.14, 19, 21, 33, 43, 50, 52, 55, 59.
Asconius. Commentary on Cicero's Pro Milone
Cicero. Orationes Philippicae 2.44, 113; 5.4, 11; 6.2, 4.
Dio Cassius. Roman History 46.56.4; 47.8.2-5; 48.4.1-6;
5.1-5; 6.1-4; 10.2-4; 12.4; 15.2; 28.3-4.
Martial. Epigrammata 20.
Plutarch. Vitae Parallelae (Parallel Lives): Antonius 10.3—5.
Babcock, Charles L. "The Early Career of Fulvia." American
Journal of Philology 86 (1965), pp. 1-32.
Bauman, Richard A. Women and Politics in Ancient Rome.
London: Routledge, 1994, index.
Delia, Diana. "Fulvia Reconsidered." In Womens History
and Ancient History, ed. by Sarah B. Pomeroy. Chapel
Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1991, pp.
197-217.
Oxford Classical Dictionary, ed. by Simon Hornblower and
Antony Spawforth. 3d. ed. New York: Oxford Univer-
sity Press, 1996, p. 614.
Pauly, A., G. Wissowa, and W. Kroll. Real-Encyclopadie d.
Klassischen Altertumswissenschaft 1893. (Germany:mul-
tiple publishers) 113.
Syme, Ronald. The Roman Revolution. London: Oxford
University Press, 1963, index.
144
G
Galeria Fundana
(first century C.E.)
political player
Roman: Rome
Galeria Fundana both suffered poverty and enjoyed
imperial wealth over the decades of a tumultus
marriage with Aulus Vitellius, emperor for nine
months before Vespasian in 69 c.e. She has been
lauded in the sources for her probity and modesty
in the face of both adversity and excess. Galerias
father had been a praetor, but little else is known
of her family. She married Vitellius after he
divorced his first wife, Petronia. They had two
children, a girl and a boy.
By all accounts her husband was a spendthrift.
By the time of their marriage, he had already gone
through the money accumulated from an African
command and had divorced his first wife when she
refused to give him access to her fortune. His casu-
alness with money was combined with lusty appe-
tites. He was well known in Rome for his
overindulgence in drink and food. The emperor
Servius Sulpicius Galba offered him the command
of troops in Lower Germany at a moment when he
had no other apparent future and was hounded by
debt collectors.
Vitellius raised the funds to equip himself with
a mortgage on his house. He also took from his
mother, Sextilia, some pearls to pawn or sell.
Galeria and their children remained in Rome in
straitened circumstances living in the rather poor
rented quarters of a tenement. She faced his
unhappy creditors.
Vitellius was declared emperor by his forces in
Lower Germany while Marcus Salvius Otho was
declared emperor by the Praetorian Guard in
Rome. Galeria and her mother-in-law were in dan-
ger as the opposing forces prepared to meet each
other. Vitellius sought to protect them with a letter
to the brother of Otho threatening to kill him and
his children if his family was harmed. After a tense
period in which Galeria and Sextilia remained
unharmed, Vitellius's army defeated Otho outside
of Rome.
No happier in splendor than in poverty, Galeria
moved into Nero's palace with Vitellius. Over the
next months, Vitellius spent huge amounts on
food, drink, and entertainment in which Galeria
took as little part as possible. She, was not, how-
ever, without influence. As emperors go, Vitellius
was far from among the most bloodthirsty, though
he did kill some of Othos supporters. The sources
credit Galeria for protecting Trachalus, an adviser
to Otho who may well have been her earlier
protector.
The weaknesses of Vitellius were eventually his
undoing, and the armed forces in varying parts of
145
Galla
the empire revolted and rallied around Vespasian.
Vitellius was killed in December 69. Galerias
young son was also killed, but Galeria and her
daughter were unharmed. Vespasian made a fine
match for her daughter and even provided her
with a dowry.
Sources
Suetonius. The Lives of the Caesars: Vespasian 14.
Suetonius. The Lives of the Caesars: Vitellius 6.
Tacitus. Historiae 2.60, 64.
(D Galla
(?— 394 c.e.) Roman: Italy Constantinople
political player
Galla was young and very beautiful when she
became the second wife of Theodosius the Great
after his first wife, Flaccilla, died. Galla offered
the middle-aged emperor an opportunity to cement
a dynastic relationship between the Eastern and
Western parts of the empire through her deceased
father, the Western emperor Valentinian I.
However, Justina, Galla's mother, had her own
political plans for which her desirable daughter
was the perfect bargaining chip. Galla had fled
with her mother and her brother, Valentinian II, to
Thessalonica in northern Greece after the usurper,
Maximus, invaded Italy. The price of her marriage
was the support of Theodosius against Maximus
and in favor of the restoration of Valentinian II in
Italy and as emperor of the West. Since both Theo-
dosius and Galla desired similar ends, the marriage
was never in doubt.
Like her mother, Galla was most likely an Arian
Christian. Her relationship with her stepson, the
future emperor Arcadius, was, on at least one occa-
sion, stormy. After an argument, she was forced to
leave the palace.
She bore three children, but only one sur-
vived — Galla Placidia born in 388/389. Galla
died from a miscarriage in 394.
Sources
Cassiodorus. Variarum x. 21.24 (a. 535; letters sent to
Theodora by Gudeliva) .
Procopius. Gothic Wars Y. iv. 1—31.
. Secret History.
Brill's New Pauly. Encyclopedia of the Ancient World. Vol. V
Classical Tradition. Edited by Manfred Landfester, in
collaboration with Hubert Canick and Helmut Sch-
neider. Boston: Brill, 2006, p. 667.
Bury, J. B. History of the Later Roman Empire: From the
Death of Thodosius L to the Death of Justinian. Vol. I.
New York: Dover Publications, Inc., 1958, p. 198.
Holum, Kenneth G. Theodosian Empresses: Women and
Imperial Dominion in Late Antiquity. Berkeley: Univer-
sity of California Press, 1982, pp. 45-46.
Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire. Vol. I. Edited by
A. H. M. Jones, J. R. Martindale, and J. Morris. Cam-
bridge: Cambridge University Press, 1971. Reprinted
1992, p. 382.
[H Gallitta
(first century B.c.E.-first century c.e.)
Roman: Rome and Germany
adulterer
Gallitta was caught in the paradox of the Julian
laws. Intended to uphold traditional values, the
leges Juliae, passed in 18 b.c.e. and expanded in 9
c.e., all but forced a husband to prosecute his wife,
for adultery, since he would otherwise open him-
self to the charge of procuring.
Gallitta, the wife of a military tribune, had an
affair with a centurion. Her husband had reported
this to the legate of the consul, who in turn told
the emperor Trajan. The centurion lover was ban-
ished. The husband, now satisfied and still in love
with his wife, did not bring any charges against
her. But in Roman legal logic, no husband could
condone adultery by his wife unless he gained a
financial return from her sexual activities. In that
case he would be not her husband but her pimp
and could be prosecuted by a third person under
the charge of procuring. Gallittas husband, there-
fore, faced a serious threat of prosecution.
Instead, Trajan punished Gallitta. The emperor
ruled that she should be banished to an island and
forfeit half her dowry and one-third of her prop-
erty. Her fate could have been worse. She could
have been condemned to death and all of her prop-
erty confiscated.
Sources
Pliny the Younger. Epistulae 6.31.
146
Glycera
Berger, Adolf. Encyclopedic Dictionary of Roman Law. Phila-
delphia: American Philosophical Society, 1953, p. 352.
Gardner, Jane F. Women in Roman Law and Society. Lon-
don: Routledge, 1995, pp. 127-131.
Glaphyra (I)
(first century b.c.e.
political player
Greek: Asia Minor
Glaphyra from Cappadocia, in Asia Minor, met
the Roman general Mark Antony in 41 b.c.e.
when she was in the court of the ruler of Com-
mona. They had an affair. Sources credit her with
his decision to appoint her son, Archelaus, ruler of
Cappadocia in 36. She was the grandmother of
Glaphyra (2).
Sources
Appian. Roman History: Bella civilian (Civil Wars) 5.7.
Dio Cassius. Roman History 49.32.3-4.
Martial. Epigrammata 1 1.20.
(D Glaphyra (2)
(first century B.c.E.-first century c.e.)
Greek (probable Roman citizen): Cappadocia
and Judaea
adventurer
Glaphyra married three times into ruling families.
She was a beautiful and smart woman, the daugh-
ter of Archelaus, ruler of Cappadocia, and the
granddaughter of Glaphyra (i), who was said to
have had an affair with the Roman general and tri-
umvir Mark Antony. Her first husband was Alex-
ander, the son of Mariamme I and Herod the
Great. Her father-in-law was the ruler of Judaea
and closely associated with the Roman Julio-Clau-
dians. Glaphyra and Alexander had two sons, Alex-
ander and Tigranes. The latter became ruler of
Armenia (6—12 c.e.).
Glaphyra was not popular among the Jews.
Proud of her elite birth, she flaunted her higher
status in relation with the other women of the
court. In 6 b.c.e., her father-in-law, Herod, exe-
cuted her husband for conspiring against him.
Herod returned Glaphyra's dowry and made clear
that she was no longer welcome in Judaea. She
returned to Cappadocia and married the learned
king Juba II of Mauritania after the death of his
wife, Cleopatra Selene. They divorced, and she
returned again to Cappadocia.
Her third husband was Archelaus II, the son of
Malthace and Herod and the half brother of her
first husband. They met after the death of Herod,
when Archelaus visited her father in Cappadocia.
He had inherited and ruled part of his father's
kingdom. He divorced his wife in order to marry
Glaphyra. The marriage created political problems
for her new husband. He was a Jew, and it was
considered an offense against the Torah for him to
marry a woman who had been the wife of his half-
brother and with whom she had had children. Gla-
phyra died soon after the marriage. Before her
death, she was said to have dreamed that her first
husband forgave her.
Sources
Josephus. Antiquitates Judaicae (Jewish Antiquities) 7.341,
345-53.
. Bellum Judaicum (Jewish Wars) 1.476, 552—53;
2.114.
Jones, A. H. M. The Herods of Judaea. Rev. ed. Oxford:
Clarendon Press, 1967, index.
Perowne, Stewart. The Later Herods, pp. 22—23, 58.
[b] Glycera
(fourth century b.c.e.)
Greek: Athens and Babylon
self-made woman
Glycera was acknowledged as the most beautiful
woman of Athens. She went to Babylon at the
behest of Harpalus, a Macedonian, who was a life-
long friend of Alexander the Great. Harpalus was
physically handicapped and could not serve as a
foot soldier. Alexander appointed him as treasurer
headquartered in Babylon when he left to cam-
paign in India. Harpalus, who was said to have
believed that Alexander would never return, he
embezzled large sums of money to support an
extravagant lifestyle. Prior to Glycera, he had lived
with Pythonice, another Greek woman of great
beauty, whom he treated well and for whom he
gave a splendid funeral and erected a monument
147
Gorgo
when she died. He did no less for Glycera who also
lived in great splendor until Alexander returned
and discovered Harpalus's misuse of funds. Harpa-
lus fled with money and some soldiers. He bribed
the Athenians, including Demosthenes, in an
attempt to gain asylum in Athens. Refused, he fled
to Crete, where he was murdered. Glycera's death
is unrecorded.
Sources
Athenaeus. Deipnosophistae 13.586c.
Diodorus Siculus. Library of History 17.108.4—8.
Gorgo
(fifth century b.c.e.)
patriot
Greek: Sparta
Gorgo has been portrayed in the sources as
smarter and wiser than the men around her. She
was the only child of Cleomenes I, ruler of Sparta
(520-490 b.c.e.) . After the death of her father,
perhaps by suicide, she married Leonidas, a step-
brother of her father, who succeeded him as ruler
in 490.
Gorgo was an astute and steadfast advocate of
the Greek cause against the Persians at a time when
their conflict dominated the future of the West. She
was only eight years old when Aristagorus, tyrant of
Meletus, came to Sparta in 499-98 to obtain
Cleomenes' support, ostensibly to free the Greek
settlements in western Asia Minor from Persian
rule. In their final meeting, Aristagorus came to the
house of Cleomenes, and found him in a room
with Gorgo. He asked to speak to Cleomenes pri-
vately, but Cleomenes told him to speak in front of
his daughter. Aristagorus offered Cleomenes a bribe
of 10 talents to betray his fellow Greeks and raised
the offer as Cleomenes remained firm. Gorgo
turned to her father and urged him to leave the
room or he would certainly be corrupted by the
everincreasing amount of money. Cleomenes left
the room.
Later prior to the invasion by the Persian king
Xerxes, Demaratus, a Greek exile living in the Per-
sian city of Susa, discovered the Persian plan to
invade Greece and sent a message of warning. He
inscribed his message on wood and then laid it
over with wax. When the tablet arrived in Sparta,
Gorgo suggested removing the wax to see if a mes-
sage lay beneath it. The Spartans sent word of the
plan to the other cities in Greece.
It was Gorgo's husband, Leonidas, who held
the pass at Thermopylae in one of history's most
famous battles. He secured the retreat of the main
body of his troops while he fiercely counterat-
tacked with his small remaining force. He held off
the Persians for two critical days before he was
killed.
Sources
Herodotus. The Persian Wars 5.51; 6.75; 7.205, 239.
Burn, Andrew Robert. Persia and the Greeks: The Defense of
the West, c. 546-478 ft C. New York: St. Martin's Press,
1962, pp. 199,394.
Gratilla
(first century c.e.)
stoic
Roman: Rome
Gratilla followed the Stoic philosophy. Her hus-
band, Junius Arulenus Rusticus, a well-known dis-
ciple of Stoicism, was executed by the emperor
Titis Flavius Domitian in 93 c.e. after he had writ-
ten in praise of two earlier Stoics: Thrasea Paetus,
who had been condemned by the emperor Nero,
and Helvidius Priscus, who had been executed by
the emperor Titus Flavius Vespasian. Gratilla went
into exile, following in the footsteps of the two
praised Stoics' women: the younger Arria and
Fannia (2).
Sources
Pliny the Younger. Epistulae 3.11; 5.1.
Gygaea
(fifth century b.c.e.)
political pawn
Greek: Macedonia
Gygaea was the daughter of Amyntas, ruler of
Macedonia, and the sister of Alexander I (495-50
b.c.e.), with whom she lived. Bubares, a Persian,
arrived to investigate the deaths of several Persian
envoys said to have been murdered by the Mace-
148
Gygaea
donians on orders from Alexander for insulting Sources
Macedonian women at a banquet. Her brother Herodotus. The Persian Wars 5.21; 8.136.
sidetracked the investigation by arranging a mar- Burn, Andrew Robert. Persia and the Greeks: The Defense of
riage between Gygaea and Bubares, accompanied the West, c. 546-478 B.C. New York: St. Martin's Press,
by a substantial dowry. Gygaea had a son, Amyn- 1962, p. 134.
tas, who governed the city of Alabanda in south- Macurdy, Grace. Hellenistic Queens. Reprint. Chicago: Ares
west Asia Minor. Publishers, 1985, p. 15.
149
H
6N©
Hagesichora
(seventh century b.c.e.)
choral leader
Greek: Sparta
Hagesichora led a women's chorus in Sparta dur-
ing the second half of the seventh century b.c.e.
Described in the sources as beautiful with golden
hair, she probably came from an elite family whose
daughters took leadership positions in the religious
festivals that marked the Spartan calendar.
Traditionally Spartan choruses of 10 women,
accompanied by the flute and divided into 2 parts,
sang poetic hymns to the gods. Hagesichora led
one of the five-voice sections. It remains unclear if
she sang or only performed other tasks of direction
and production. Also uncertain were the relation-
ships among the women. They appear to have been
loving, sensual, and possibly erotic.
Sources
Bing, Peter. Games of Venus: An Anthology of Greek and
Roman Erotic Verse fom Sappho to Ovid. New York:
Routledge, Chapman and Hall, 1993, (Alcman, frag.
1.39-101).
Bowra, C. M. Greek Lyric Poetry from Alcman to Simonides
2d. ed. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1967, pp. 30-65.
Fantham, Elaine, et al. Women in the Classical World. New
York: Oxford University Press, 1994, pp. 12-15.
Page, Denys L. Alcman: The Partheneion. Oxford: Claren-
don Press, 1951.
Pomeroy, Sarah B. Goddesses, Whores, Wives, and Slaves:
Women in Classical Antiquity. New York: Schocken
Books, 1975, p. 55.
Hedyto
(fifth century b.c.e.)
mother oflsocrates
Greek: Athens
Hedyto married Theodoras, a very rich man living
in Athens during the 430s and 420s b.c.e. Her
husband owned a workshop in which slaves made
flutes. She had five children, one of whom,
Isocrates, became a famous philosopher and rheto-
rician. His system of teaching rhetoric profoundly
influenced education in writing and speaking.
Sources
Davies, J. K. Athenian Propertied Families, 600—300 B.C.
Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1971, p. 246.
[b] Hegesipyle
(sixth— fifth century b.c.e.)
Thracian: Thrace and Athens
mother ofdmon
Hegesipyle, the daughter of Olorus, a wealthy
Thracian ruler, married Miltiades (c. 550-489 b.
C.e.), a member of the aristocratic Athenian family
in the Philaidae. Their marriage strengthened the
family links between Athens and Thrace. Her hus-
150
Helena Flavia Julia (I)
band's father and grandfather had ruled over Cher-
sonesus (Gallipoli), on the Thracian peninsula,
under the suzerainty of Athens. In 524, Hippias,
the tyrant of Athens, sent her husband to rule in
his family's tradition. Hegesipyle gave birth to
Cimon, who became a famous Athenian statesman
and soldier, and to Elpinice.
Sources
Plutarch. Vitae Parallelae (Parallel Lives): Cimon 4.1.
[H] Helena
(c. late fourth century b.c.e.)
Roman: Egypt, Alexandria
painter
Helena was a painter who learned her craft from her
painter father, Timon. She worked in the period
after the death of Alexander in 323 b.c.e. Helena
painted a scene of Alexander the Great defeating the
Persian ruler, Darius, at the Battle of Issus in south-
ern Asia Minor. The painting, exhibited in Rome,
has not survived. Possibly, she created a mosaic copy
of the painting that has been found in Pompeii.
However, the attribution remains disputed, primar-
ily on the grounds of gender, since other mosaic
work by women has not been uncovered.
Sources
Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire. Vol. III. Edited by
A. H. M. Jones, J. R. Martindale, and J. Morris. Cam-
bridge: Cambridge University Press, 1971. Reprinted
1992, pp. 63-66
[a] Helena Flavia Julia (I)
(?-327 c.e.)
Roman: Italy, Germany, Judaea, Asia, and Syria
Augusta; early Christian
Helena lived during a period of significant religious
change. The daughter of an innkeeper from Drepa-
num in Bithynia, an area in northwest Asia Minor,
she was a convert to Christianity, a supporter of the
Arian cause, and an influential actor at the court of
her son Constantine. She has been credited with
introducing her son to Christianity, influencing him
to end Christian persecution, and acting as a media-
tor to achieve compromise at the Council of Nicaea.
The lover or perhaps an early wife of Constan-
tius, she gave birth to the future emperor Constan-
tine in the military city of Naissus on the Danube
in 285 C.e. Constantius either divorced or simply
left Helena to marry Flavia Maximiana Theodora,
the daughter or stepdaughter of Maximian. Con-
stantius's new father-in-law became co-Augustus at
the behest of the emperor Diocletian in 293 and
appointed Constantius as his second-in-command
with the title of Caesar in the West.
Thirteen years later, in 306 c.e., her son Con-
stantine became emperor. She and her son had
remained close as he followed his father to power.
She grew wealthy with extensive properties in
Rome. Over the course of decades, she generously
supported the troops and friends around her son
and helped finance the construction of Constan-
tine's new capital, Constantinople. She assumed
the title of Augusta along with Flavia Maxima
Fausta, Constantine's wife, in 324.
She also became a devout Christian. At the time
of Constantine's rise to power, the position of Chris-
tianity in the empire was still uncertain, and its
adherents were subject to periodic persecution.
Some tradition has ascribed to Helena the conver-
sion of her son, who was said to have marked his
Helena Flavia Julia (I)
(Archives, American Numismatic Society)
151
Helena, Flavia Julia (2)
soldiers' armor with a cross to test the power of the
new God at the battle of Milvian Bridge in 3 12. His
victory was also the victory of Christianity. Helena,
however, was influenced by the bishop Eusebius, as
was Flavia Julia Constantia, Constan tines half sis-
ter, and both were Arians at a moment when the
Arian movement posed the greatest threat to the
unity of the church. Helena not only used her
wealth to support the Arian cause, but it was said
that she played a critical role in the agreement at the
Council of Nicaea, which averted a schism.
In 326 a scandal occurred, the details of which
are obscured. Constantine authorized the execu-
tion of his 20-year old son, Crispus, who was the
child of his lover, Minervina, born prior to his
marriage with Fausta. He also had Fausta killed or
compelled her to commit suicide. Tradition has
implicated Helena in the deaths. There is no evi-
dence that Fausta shared Helena's devotion to
Christianity, and she may have challenged Helena's
Christian coalition. Possibly, Helena suspected
Fausta of trying to gather a basis of support to
assure the succession of one of her own sons.
Immediately after the tragedy, Helena, probably
now in her late 70s, made a pilgrimage to Jerusa-
lem where she supported the building of churches
and shrines. She died in 327 in Constantinople.
She was buried in Rome.
Sources
Eusebius. Vita Constantini.
Balsdon, J. P. V. D. Roman Women. New York: John Day
Comp., 1963, pp. 165-170.
Barnes, Timothy. Constantine and Eusebius. Cambridge:
Harvard University Press, 1981, pp. 220-221.
Barnes, Timothy. The New Empire of Diocletian and Con-
stantine. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1982.
Lane Fox, Robin. Pagans and Christians. New York: Alfred
A. Knopf, 1987, pp. 309-311, 670-671.
Pauly, A., G. Wissowa, and W. Kroll. Real-Encyclopadie
D. Classischen Altertumswissenschaft 1893-. (Germany:
multiple publishers) 7.
[U Helena, Flavia Julia (2)
(?-360 c.e.)
Roman: Italy, Constantinople, Gaul
Augusta
Helena, the daughter of Flavia Maxima Fausta
and Constantine the Great, married Julian in 355,
152
soon after he became Caesar with authority over
Britain and Gaul. Her husband, who had been
raised an Arian Christian, had spent time in Ath-
ens studying Neoplatonism and had personally
rejected Christianity. It remains unclear whether or
not Helena was aware of her husband's religious
and philosophical positions; she was, however,
likely to have been fully cognizant of the political
reasons for her marriage.
Eusebia, Augusta and wife of Constantius II,
promoted the marriage to a reluctant Constan-
tius. The office of Caesar and marriage with Hel-
ena provided an opportunity for Julian to prove
himself in wars against the Alamanni and the
Franks, far from Constantinople. Failure in battle
would probably lead to his death and remove a
potential rival, while success would provide a
husband for Helena and an effective general for
Constantius.
Constantius was Julian's stepuncle. His father,
Julius Constantius, was a half brother to Constan-
tius's father, Constantine I. Constantius was also the
brother of Helena. Named after her famous grand-
mother, Helena, she was born in Constantinople
and was several years older than Julian. She had a
tempestuous youth. Her mother, Fausta, had been
killed by her father in 326, for unknown reasons.
Her sister Constantina married Hanniballianus
from Asia Minor, who died violently. After her
father's death, her three brothers warred with one
another until only Constantius was left to rule.
Eusebia promoted Helena's marriage, but grew
increasingly fearful that Helena's children would
pose a threat to Constantius. After their marriage
Helena accompanied her husband on campaigns
into Gaul, and ancient gossip has attributed to
Eusebia a part in Helena's subsequent miscarriage
and stillbirth. Julian, however, was an able general
and realized Constantiuis's greatest fear of becom-
ing a potential rival. He was declared emperor by
his troops shortly before Helena's death in 360.
Sources
Ammiamus Marcellinus. XV. 8, 1; XVI. 10, 18.
Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire. Vol. I. Edited by
A. H. M. Jones, J. R. Martindale, and J. Morris. Cam-
bridge: Cambridge University Press, 1971. Reprinted
1992, pp. 409-410.
Herpyllis
(U Helvia
(second-first century b.c.e.) Roman: Italy
mother of Cicero
Helvia's famous child, Marcus Tullius Cicero, was an
orator, a statesman, and consul in 63 b.c.e. Although
he was a prolific letter writer who had no hesitation
in praising those he admired, he never referred to his
mother and only sparingly to his father. The reasons
remain unclear. She came from a respectable family
that had social and economic connections in Rome.
She married Marcus Cicero, the son of Marcus
Cicero and Gratidia. Her husband came from a well-
to-do family based near the town of Arpinum about
70 miles from Rome. Marcus was not a well man,
and he spent a great amount of his time in study.
In addition to Marcus, born on January 3, 106,
their second son, Quintus, was born about two
years later. The family moved to Rome while the
children were still young with the intention of pro-
viding them the best possible education.
Sources
Plutarch. Vitae Parallelae (Parallel Lives): Cicero 1.1.
Shackleton Bailey, D. R. Cicero. New York: Charles Scrib-
ner's Sons, 1971, p. 4.
lated the Torahs kinship law for legal marriage.
Antipas feared a revolt and had John killed. At
Salome's request, he gave her John's head as a
reward for dancing at a party.
Antipas ruled Galilee and Peraea (Transjordan)
from 4 b.c.e. to 39 c.e. Herodias became furious
that her brother, Agrippa, had received a higher
status than her husband, who had served Rome
longer. In 39 she persuaded her reluctant husband
to go with her to Italy where he sought the same
status as her brother from the emperor Caligula.
Her brother sent a letter to Caligula accusing
Antipas of plotting against the life of the former
emperor Tiberius, among other treasonable
actions. Caligula banished Antipas to Gaul but
offered to allow Herodias to keep her property and
avoid banishment when he found out that she was
Agrippa's sister. Herodias, however, rejected the
offer and went into exile with her husband.
Sources
Josephus. Antiquitates Judaicae (Jewish Antiquities) 18.109—
11; 136.240-55.
Grant, Michael. The Jews in the Roman World. New York:
Charles Scribner's Sons, 1973, p. 125.
Perowne, Stewart. The Later Herods, index.
[b] Herodias
(first century c.e.)
Jewish: Judaea, Italy, and Gaul
loyal wife
Herodias was the sister of Agrippa I, ruler of
Judaea. Her brother's friendship with the emperor
Gaius Caligula saved her life and fortune. Her
brother had grown up in Rome as a close friend of
Drusus Julius Caesar, the son of the emperor
Tiberius. He was also a friend and client of the
future emperor Gaius Caligula, who made him
ruler over part of the territory once ruled by his
grandfather Herod the Great.
Herodias was the daughter of Berenice (i) and
Aristobulus IV, and the grandniece of Herod the
Great. Herodias's first husband was her stepuncle
Hero. Their daughter was named Salome. Wid-
owed, she married Antipas, the stepbrother of her
first husband and another of her stepuncles. She
was his second wife. Her husband was attacked by
John the Baptist, who claimed the marriage vio-
[a] Herpyllis
(fourth century b.c.e.) Greek: Greece
companion of Aristotle
Herpyllis became the companion of the great phi-
losopher Aristotle after the death of his wife, Pyth-
ias. One of their sons was named Nichomachus
after Aristotle's father. Aristotle named his greatest
work, the Nichomachean Ethics, after their son.
When Aristotle died, he left his property to
Herpyllis and the two children. He appointed
Nicanor, who served under Alexander the Great,
executor. The executor was instructed to care for
Herpyllis and, should she choose, to help her find
a suitable husband. The will offered her a choice of
one of the two houses that Aristotle owned plus a
sum of money and five servants.
Sources
Athenaeus. Deipnosophistae 13.589c.
Diogenes Laertius. Lives of the Eminent Philosophers 5.1,
12-14.
153
Hipparchia
Flaceliere, Robert. Love in Ancient Greece. Trans, by James
Cleugh. New York: Crown Publishers, 1962, p. 125.
[b] Hipparchia
(fourth-third century b.c.e.) Greek: Greece
philosopher
Hipparchia was born in Maroneia, in the northeast-
ern part of Greece. She and her brother, Metrocles,
adopted the philosophy of the Cynics. She threat-
ened suicide unless her parents allowed her to marry
Crates of Thebes (c. 365-285 b.c.e.), the leading
proponent of Cynicism. Her parents asked Crates to
dissuade her. Crates was said to have removed his
clothes and stood before her to ask her if she was pre-
pared to choose a helpmate naked in body and with-
out any worldly possessions. She married him. They
traveled together and lived a life of Cynic poverty,
exhorting others to renounce their possessions for a
simple life free of entanglements. Only this way, they
claimed, could one achieve independence, peace,
happiness, and reconciliation in midst of troubled
times, wars, and social chaos.
Hipparchia matched her wits with challengers.
Theodoras, an atheist, challenged her in an argu-
ment at a banquet. She asserted that any act not
considered wrong when undertaken by Theodoras,
would also not be wrong when done by her. Thus,
if Theodoras struck himself, then she did no wrong
if she too struck him. When he asked whether she
was a woman who gave up the loom, she was said
to have replied that time spent weaving the threads
of her mind and educating herself was more impor-
tant than time spent weaving cloth.
Sources
Diogenes Laertius. Lives of the Eminent Philosophers
6.96-98.
Pomeroy, Sarah B. Goddesses, Whores, Wives, and Slaves:
Women in Classical Antiquity. New York: Schocken
Books, 1975, p. 136.
[a] Hipparete (I)
(sixth— fifth century b.c.e.) Greek: Athens
independent wife
Hipparete divorced the famous Athenian states-
man Pericles by mutual consent after five years of
154
marriage. Hipparete had two sons with Pericles,
Xanthippus and Paralus. Her second husband,
Hipponicus, was the son of the beautiful and
maligned Elpinice and the nephew of the renowned
Cimon. Hipponicus was enormously wealthy after
he inherited his fathers silver mines. They had two
children, Hipparete (2), and a son, Callias. The
daughter married the general Alcibiades.
Contrary to some reports, Hipparete's divorce
from Pericles had nothing to do with Aspasia, who
only became a part of Pericles' life five years later.
Sources
Plutarch. Vitae Parallelae (Parallel Lives): Pericles 24.5.
Davies, J. K. Athenian Propertied Families, 600—300 B.C.
Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1971, pp. 260-263.
Hipparete (2)
(?-4 17/4 16 b.c.e.)
rich Athenian
Greek: Athens
Hipparete sought unsuccessfully to end her mar-
riage with the Athenian statesman Alcibiades. Her
father, Hipponicus, was the wealthiest man in Ath-
ens. After her grandfather died, her father inherited
the family property, including silver mines. Hippa-
rete's mother, Hipparete (i), was the divorced wife
of Pericles, Athens's most famous ruler.
Hipparete married Alcibiades sometime in the
late 420s b.c.e. and was said to have been a proper
and affectionate wife to her brilliant and mercurial
husband, who led the Athenian navy to victory at
Cyzicus in 421. Both charming and handsome,
her husband was notorious for his sexual exploits
and pranks, some of which were incorporated into
several of Plato's Socratic dialogues. Nonetheless,
Hipparete had every reason to expect from her
husband the respect due to a well-born wife and
adherence to the expected social proprieties. After
he repeatedly brought prostitutes into their home,
she fled to her brother's house. On her own, in a
show of public independence, she went to register
her divorce. Alcibiades intercepted her en route
and forcibly carried her across the public market
back into his house.
Alcibiades's interest in maintaining his marriage
may have had more to do with money than affec-
tion. Hipparete had a dowry of 20 talents. The
Hispulla
sum was huge when one considers that the total
revenue of Athens in 431 b.c.e. was estimated at
1,000 talents. Under Athenian law, Alcibiades
would have been forced to return the money had
they divorced. Half of the dowry had been given at
their marriage, and the second half would come
due upon the birth of a son. Hipparete died shortly
after the birth of that son in 417 or 416 b.c.e.
Sources
Andocides. On the Mysteries 4.14.
Plutarch. Vitae Parallelae (Parallel Lives): Alcibiades 8.2—6.
Davies, J. K. Athenian Propertied Families, 600—300 B.C.
Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1971, pp. 19, 259-261.
Pomeroy, Sarah B. Goddesses, Whores, Wives, and Slaves:
Women in Classical Antiquity. New York: Schocken
Books, 1975, p. 90.
Hispala Faecenia
(second century b.c.e.)
patriot
Roman: Rome
Hispala Faecenia was a celebrated hero of Rome
who provided the information that uncovered a
major religious scandal in 186 b.c.e. She had taken
a young man of means, Publius Aebutius, for a
lover. He was the only son of Duronia and ward of
his stepfather, Titus Sempronius Rutilus, whom his
mother adored. Duronia conspired to avoid the dis-
covery of Rutiliuss misuse of her sons inheritance.
Aebutius revealed to Hispala that his mother
planned to have him become an initiate of the Bac-
chic cult. Hispala was horrified. While still a slave,
Hispala had attended Bacchic rites with her mis-
tress. The secret cult, in which membership was said
to be limited to those under 20 years old who had
sworn to engage in unusual sex, robbery, and even
murder, was believed to include some 7,000 people
in Italy. She warned Aebutius that his mother and
stepfather were out to destroy his reputation and
made him promise not to be initiated into the rites.
When he told his parents that he refused to be initi-
ated, they threw him out of their house.
Aebutius related the story to his aunt, who
advised him to go to the consul. Taken seriously by
the authorities, they turned to Hispala for details.
Finally persuaded to reveal information about the
rituals in exchange for protection from retributory
violence, she moved into a safe space above the
household of the consul's own mother-in-law.
When presented with the facts, the Senate
voted to execute the men found guilty of partici-
pation in the rites. The women implicated in the
scandal were turned over to their families for pun-
ishment. The Senate voted 100,000 sesterces as a
reward to Hispala and Aebutius. In addition, she
was given the right to alienate her property and to
marry any man of free birth. Moreover, it was
decreed that the consuls and other officials should
protect her. She left her property to Aebutius
when she died.
Sources
Livy. From the Founding of the City 39.8—14, 19.
Balsdon, J. P. V. D. Roman Women. New York: John Day
Comp., 1963, pp. 37-43.
Bauman, Richard A. Women and Politics in Ancient Rome.
London: Routledge, 1994, pp. 35-37.
(D Hispulla
(first century c.E.)
affluent woman
Roman: Italy
Hispulla was part of the well-to-do and educated
circle of men and women who lived primarily on
their estates as they struggled with the political
uncertainties of the late Julio-Claudian period. She
was the wife of Corellius Rufus, a close friend of
Pliny the Younger. Her husband was afflicted with
a progressively painful gout, evidently inherited
from his father. He told Pliny that the only reason
he chose to continue to live in great agony was to
outlive the emperor Domitian, whose reign of ter-
ror lasted from until 96 C.E. and left many of his
friends dead or in exile.
In his 67th year, with Domitian dead, her hus-
band could no longer endure the pain and decided
to end his life by fasting. Hispulla and her daugh-
ter, Corellia Hispulla, tried to dissuade him but
to no avail. Hispulla then sent for Pliny as their
last hope. As he ran to her house, a messenger met
him with the news that Rufus could not be
deterred, and his friend died shortly thereafter.
Sources
Pliny the Younger. Epistulae 1.12.
155
Honoria, Justa Grata
[b] Honoriajusta Grata
(c. 417/418 c.E.-c. 452 c.e.)
Roman: Italy, Constantinople
Augusta
Strong-willed and intelligent, Justa Grata Honoria
followed in the footsteps of her mother, Aelia
Galla Placida. She refused to play a secondary
rule to her younger, incompetent brother, the
emperor Valentinian III, and her intent to rule
threatened the empire.
After her father, Constantius III, died on Sep-
tember 2, 421, Honoria and her siblings remained
in Ravenna, Italy, with her mother the widowed
Augusta Placidia, who exercised great influence
over her ineffectual half brother, Honorius, the
new emperor. Rumors of a plot by Placidia to
replace Honorius caused conflicts that threatened
violence and in 423 Honoria fled with her mother
to the emperor Theodosius II and his powerful sis-
ter, Pulcheria, in Constantinople.
Honorius died on August 14, 423. A usurper
named John seized power in the West. Theodosius
and Pulcheria found it in their interest to strike an
agreement with their aunt Placidia. They recog-
nized Valentinian, who was Honoria's younger
brother, as the legitimate emperor of the West.
Theodosius also recognized Placidia's title of
Augusta. Theodosius gained authority over Dal-
matia and a part of Pannonia previously held by
the Western emperor. To seal the agreement, the
infant child of Theodosius and Aelia Eudocia,
Licinia Eudoxia, was betrothed to the child-
emperor Valentinian, with the marriage to take
place when both came of age.
Honoria left with her mother and brother Val-
entinian for Italy accompanied by an army sent by
Theodosius to overthrow the usurper. Although
temporarily shipwrecked in the Adriatic Sea off the
coast of Dalmatia, they successfully reached Italy.
The army defeated and executed the usurper
emperor John and on October 23, 425, in Rome,
Valentinian became Augustus. Shortly thereafter,
Honoria received the title Augusta, and gold coins
were issued in her honor. For the first time on a
coin a female child wore the diadem of a royal
headband with a scepter of purple representing
156
royal authority. Possibly it was done to assure she
would become regent for her younger brother in
case her mother died while he was still a minor. As
she grew older, she also received her own estate on
the grounds of the palace in Ravenna and a per-
sonal fortune. However, the long-planned mar-
riage of her brother on October 29, 437, to Licinia
Eudoxia, the daughter of Aelia Eudocia and Theo-
dosius II, came to fruition and introduced another
woman into the Western imperial circle. Eudoxia,
moreover, bore two daughters over the next few
years further distancing the ambitious Honoria
from a dynastic and political role in the empire.
Honoria took a lover, Eugenius, a low-born man-
ager of her estate. Possibly, she was pregnant. More
probably, the story of a lover and the inference of a
pregnancy was part of an ancient literary trope for a
conspiracy to unseat her brother. The tale has ele-
ments that reach back to Julia, the daughter of
Augustus, and Livilla, during the reign of Tiberius,
when lovers were part of elite women's participation
in imperial conspiracies.
In 449, Eugenius was executed and Honoria was
exiled from the palace and betrothed, against her
will, to Flavius Bassus Herculanus, a very wealthy
Roman senator, who had no designs on the throne.
Honoria, however, was not deterred. In 450, she
secretly requested support from Attila, king of the
Huns, through Hyacinthus, a trusted eunuch, to
whom she also entrusted a ring to guarantee the
authenticity of her message. Attila claimed the ring
was an offer of marriage. He responded with a letter
to Theodosius II in Constantinople that demanded
Honoria as a bride and half of the Western empire
as her dowry. Theodosius instructed his half brother
Valentinian to hand Honoria over to Attila, osten-
sibly to prevent an attack by the Huns. Instead,
Valentinian tortured and killed Hyacinthus. He
would have also executed Honoria but for the inter-
vention of her mother. She instead lost only her
symbol of power, the diadem.
In 451, Attila invaded and was barely repulsed
at Chalons. In 452 he again invaded to claim Hon-
oria as his bride. He captured cities in his path and
destroyed Aquileia, but he could not overcome
plague and food shortages, which sent him into
Hortensia
retreat. He died the following year without having
claimed Honoria, and Honoria disappears from
history.
Sources
Jordanes. Getica. 223, 224.
Olympiodorus. Fragments. 34.
Priscus. Fragments. 2, 7, 8, 15.
Sozomen. Historia Ecclesiastical. 16. 2.
Theophanes. Chronicle. AM 5943.
Bury, J. B. "Justa Grata Honoria," Journal of Roman Studies
9 (1919): pp. 1-13.
Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire. Vol. II. Edited by
A. H. M. Jones, J. R. Martindale, and J. Morris. Cam-
bridge: Cambridge University Press, 1971. Reprinted
1992, pp. 568-569.
Hortensia
(first century b.c.e.)
orator
Roman: Rome
Ho rati a
(seventh century b.c.e.)
war victim
Roman: Rome
Horatia's story comes from the period of early
Roman history when fact and myth are inexora-
bly intertwined. As it is told, marriage between
Horatia and a son of the Curiatii family from
nearby Alba Longa, southwest of Rome, had
been arranged. In a battle with the Curiatii, two
of her three brothers died. Her remaining brother
killed her fiance. Horatia met her brother as he
returned from battle and recognized the cloak he
carried from the body of his slain opponent. She
had made that cloak for her soon-to-be husband.
She cried. Her brother drew his sword and killed
her.
When her brother was brought to trial, her
father, Publius Horatius, justified his son's actions
and declared he would have killed Horatia had his
son not already done so. No Roman woman who
mourned for an enemy of Rome deserved to live.
Her brother was acquitted but was forced to do
penance.
Sources
Livy. From the Founding of the City. 1 .26.
Valerius Maximus. Factorum et dictorum memorabilium
UbriIX63,G.
Pomeroy, Sarah B. Goddesses, Whores, Wives, and Slaves:
Women in Classical Antiquity. New York: Schocken
Books, 1975, pp. 152-153.
Hortensia was an orator. She was well educated
and articulate. Her father was the famous Roman
orator Quintus Hortensius (114-50 b.c.e.). She
was also a wealthy woman and was the chosen
spokesperson to argue against a special tax levied
against women in 42 b.c.e.
The triumvirs Antony, Octavian, and Lepidus
were hard-pressed for cash. Needing to overcome a
shortfall of some 200 million drachmas for war
preparations, they published an edict requiring
1,400 of the wealthiest women to make an evalua-
tion of their property and to donate a portion to the
triumvirs. In usual fashion, anyone found to be con-
cealing information would be fined, and informers,
whether free or slave, would be rewarded.
The women objected and successfully enlisted
support from Livia Drusilla and Octavia (2),
respectively, the wealthy and independent wife and
the stepsister of Octavian. They were repulsed,
however, by Fulvia (2), the wife of Mark Antony
and the woman most directly engaged by the mili-
tary aspects of war. United, they marched into the
Forum where Hortensia spoke for all of them.
She declared that the women had not been
involved in any actions against the triumvirs and
should therefore not be penalized. Why, she asked,
should women pay taxes, since they could not be
involved in politics or the military and therefore
could not share in the honors and wealth that men
acquired? If Rome were fighting a foreign enemy,
the women would have no hesitation in support-
ing the government with all means in their power.
But this was a civil war, and women should not be
required to give aid in a conflict between Roman
citizens that men had fomented. Hortensia pointed
out that such an assessment had never before been
demanded in the whole history of Rome.
The crowd supported them. Despite their evident
anger, the triumvirs eliminated the tax for all but 400
of the women and in addition levied a tax on all men
who owned more than 100,000 drachmas.
Sources
Appian. Roman History: Bella civilian (Civil Wars) 4.32-34.
157
Hydna
Valerius Maximus. Factorum et dictorum memorabilium
libri 1X8.3.3.
Bauman, Richard A. Women and Politics in Ancient Rome.
London: Routledge, 1994, pp. 81-83.
Pomeroy, Sarah B. Goddesses, Whores, Wives, and Slaves:
Women in Classical Antiquity. New York: Schocken
Books, 1975, pp. 175-176.
(D Hydna
(fifth century b.c.e.) Greek: Scione
patriot
Hydna was a Greek heroine in the war against the
Persians in 480 b.c.e. She was the daughter of
Scyllis, from Scione, a city on a peninsula in the
Thracian Sea controlled by Athens. She learned to
swim and dive as a child alongside her father.
When the Persians attacked the Greeks, Xerxes
anchored the Persian fleet off Mount Oelion. Dur-
ing a storm, Hydna and her father swam to the
fleet and, diving underwater, cut a number of the
ships' anchor ropes. Many of the ships drifted and
were tossed on the rocks and sank.
Statues of Hydna and her father were dedicated
at Delphi. Her statue may have been plundered by
the emperor Nero and carried off to Rome in the
first century c.e.
Sources
Pausanias. Description of Greece 10.19.1—2.
Harris, H. A. Sport in Greece and Rome. Ithaca, N.Y.: Cor-
nell University Press, 1972, pp. 112-113, 124-125.
[a] Hypatia
(370c.e.-415c.e.)
Greek: Alexandria, Egypt
philosopher
Hypatia is the best-known woman mathematician
and philosopher from the Greco-Roman world.
Born in 370 c.e., she followed in the footsteps of
her father, Theon, to direct the Mouseion and
library in Alexandria. Hypatia was a Platonist,
although her most notable work was most likely in
mathematics, not philosophy.
She probably collaborated with her father on his
commentary of Ptolemy's Almagest and possibly
composed commentaries on Ptolemy's astronomy.
Also with her father she produced a new version of
Euclid's Elements, which became the standard edi-
tion of Euclid into contemporary times. Hypatia
wrote commentaries on Arithmetica, composed by
the earlier philosopher Diophantus, and on the
Conies written by Appollonius. Extant letters from
the bishop Synesius of Cyrene, Hypatia's former
student, suggest that she developed a new or better
astrolabe (an ancient astronomical instrument used
to determine measurements in relation with the
Sun) and a hydroscope (a device designed to allow
for the study of objects underwater).
Hypatia was part of the pagan elite around the
Roman prefect Orestes in his conflict with the
bishop Cyril. In many ways she personified the
complicated role of sexuality in early Christianity
that simultaneously allowed women previously
unimagined alternatives and damned the pagan
idealism and rationality of platonic thought. Her
public visibility incensed the Christian fanatical
fringes for whom female sexuality was the cause of
man's fall from God's grace. In 415, either with
Cyril's encouragement or as a result of the atmo-
sphere he nurtured, Hypatia was dragged from her
chariot and attacked by a band of Christians, prob-
ably monks, who literally tore her limb from limb.
Sources
John Malalas. Chronicle 359.
Suda. 166.
Theophanes.ylAT5906.
Deakin, Michael. Hypatia of Alexandria: Mathematician
and Martyr. Amherst, Mass: Prometheus Books, 2007,
passim.
Dzielska, Maria. Hypatia of Alexandria. Translated by F.
Lyra. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press,
1995 , passim.
Jones, A. H. M., ed. Prosopography of the Later Roman
Empire. Vol. II. Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press, pp. 575-576.
O'Connor, J. J., and E. E Robertson. Hypatia of Alexan-
dria. Printonly/Hypatia.html, pp. 1-3.
Rist, J. M. "Hypatia," Phoenix. Vol. 19.3. Toronto: Trinity
College Press (Autumn 1965) pp. 214-225.
Wider, Kathleen. "Women Philosophers in the Ancient
Greek World," Hyaptia. Vol. 1. Bloomington: Indiana
University Press (Spring 1986) pp. 21-57.
158
6\£)
Ilia
(second-first century b.c.e.)
victim
Roman: Rome
Ilia was the first wife of the young Lucius Corne-
lius Sulla, the future dictator of Rome. Her hus-
band married increasingly rich and well-connected
women as his career soared. Ilia probably died after
the birth of their only child, Cornelia (4).
Sources
Plutarch. Vitae Parallelae (Parallel Lives): Sulla 6.10.
Ismenodora
(first century C.E.?)
self-made woman
Greek: Thespiae
Ismenodora snatched a much younger man for her
husband. A wealthy and beautiful young widow
who lived in Thespiae, a city in central Greece, she
fell in love with Bacchon, the son of a relative and
friend. The friend had asked Ismenodora to arrange
a suitable marriage for the boy, but she was not
enthusiastic about the idea of the much older and
richer Ismenodora becoming the boys wife.
Bacchon, shy and still a minor, sought advice.
He found no consensus. Ismenodora, convinced
that his hesitation was primarily embarrassment,
took matters into her own hands. She invited to
her house some of her women and men friends
who favored the marriage. When Bacchon walked
by, which he invariably did, they dragged him in,
locked the doors, put on wedding garments, and
the couple were married.
Sources
Plutarch. Moralia: Amatorius 749d-750a; 745h-755b.
Isodice
(fifth century b.c.e.)
loyal wife
Greek: Athens
Isodice was probably the second wife of Cimon, an
Athenian statesman and soldier of renown. She
came from the aristocratic Athenian family of the
Alcmaeonidae. Her father was Euryptolemus, a
son of Megacles. Isodice's husband was grief-
stricken at her death. She had for certain one son,
Callias, and possibly bore an additional three chil-
dren, all boys.
Sources
Diodorus Siculus. Library of History 10.31.
Plutarch. Vitae Parallelae (Parallel Lives): Cimon 4.8-9;
16.1-2.
159
6\£)
HI Julia (I)
(?-68 b.c.e.) Roman: Rome
brave woman
Julia was descended from a patrician family. When
she died, her nephew Julius Caesar used the occa-
sion to glorify himself by tracing her ancestry to
the gods. Her mother was a Marcia from the fam-
ily of the Marcii Reges, the ancient kings of Rome.
Julia married Gaius Marius, a noted general and
statesman. Her husband held seven consulships
before he died in 86 b.c.e. She had one son, also
named Gaius Marius, born in 1 10 b.c.e.
Julia's life was worthy of her lineage. She sup-
ported her husband in the tense and sometimes
violent confrontations of his political career. She
was often alone, honored by some and despised by
others. She managed the difficult time of her hus-
band's illness, and after Marius's death, she
remained a symbol for the Marians. Julia opposed
her son's consulship of 82 b.c.e. She was convinced
he was being used for his name by the Marian
forces. Events proved her fears well founded. Her
son led an army against Lucius Cornelius Sulla and
was defeated. He committed suicide.
After Sulla's victory Julia remained in Rome,
both vulnerable and proud. She may have sup-
ported Caesar as he left the city after he refused
Sulla's terms, which included that he divorce his
young and even more vulnerable wife Cornelia
(5). It is also possible that she aided Cornelia,
whose family had close ties to Marius. She survived
Sulla's proscriptions of 81-80 and lived to see her
nephew Caesar return from the East. She died in
68 B.C.E.
Sources
Suetonius. The Lives of the Caesars: Caesar 6.1.
Balsdon, J. P. V. D. Roman Women. New York: John Day
Comp., 1963, p. 46.
Oxford Classical Dictionary, ed. by Simon Hornblower and
Antony Spawforth. 3d. ed. New York: Oxford Univer-
sity Press, 1996, p. 776.
Pauly, A., G. Wissowa, and W. Kroll. Real-Encyclopadie
D. Classischen Altertumswissenschaft 1893— (Germany:
multiple publishers) 541.
Julia (2)
(first century b.c.e.)
power broker
Roman: Rome
Julia lived amidst the maelstrom of civil war politics
after Caesar's assassination and played a part in the
diplomacy of the Second Triumvirate. Her father
was Lucius Julius Caesar, consul in 90 b.c.e. and
censor in 89. Her aunt was Julia (i), wife and
widow of Gaius Marius, and Julius Caesar was her
cousin. Her mother was a Fulvia whose family had
supported reform since the Gracchi. She married
160
Julia (4)
Marcus Antonius Creticus, praetor in 74 b.c.e.,
whom she dominated. Their eldest son, born in 83,
grew up to become the famous triumvir Mark Ant-
ony. A younger son, Lucius Antonius, became his
brothers ally. After the death of her husband in 72,
Julia married Publius Cornelius Lentulus Sura, con-
sul in 71. Her second husband was implicated in
the conspiracy of Lucius Sergius Catiline and exe-
cuted on the orders of Marcus Tullius Cicero in 63.
In November 43 the triumvirs undertook a pro-
scription and issued death warrants for some 300
senators and 2,000 equestrians. Among them was
Julia's brother, Lucius Julius Caesar, consul in 64
b.c.e. and the uncle of Antony, whom he had
opposed after Caesar's murder. Faced with pro-
scription, he took refuge in Julia's house. She
secured his pardon from Antony and the restitu-
tion of his citizenship. Antony was said to have
observed that Julia was a fine sister but a very diffi-
cult mother.
Julia remained a widow. She lived in Rome
when Antony was in the East with Cleopatra VII.
Her younger son, Lucius, consul in 41, and her
daughter-in-law Fulvia (2) were defeated in Italy
by Octavian in the Perusine War of 40 b.c.e. Fear-
ing retribution, Julia left Rome and took refuge in
Sicily where she was kindly treated by Sextus Pom-
peius, who controlled the island. Pompeius, who
sought an alliance with Antony against Octavian,
sent Julia with two of his envoys to Athens to meet
Antony as he returned to Italy from the East.
With the alliance secured, Julia accompanied
Antony from Athens to Brundisium in Italy in 39.
He laid siege to the city when he was refused
admittance. War with Octavian appeared immi-
nent. However, the troops on both sides demanded
a settlement. Julia took part in the subsequent
negotiations. The result was the pact of Brundis-
ium, sealed with the marriage of Antony and
Octavian's sister, Octavia (2). Julia was mollified
with a letter from Octavian assuring her that she
need not have fled Rome since she was his kins-
woman, and that he would have seen to her safety.
Sources
Appian. Roman History: Bella civilian (Civil Wars) 2.143;
4.37; 5.52, 63.
Dio Cassius. Roman History 48.15.2; 48.27.4; 51.2, 5.
Plutarch. Vitae Parallelae (Parallel Lives): Antonius 1.1—3;
2.1-2; 22.3.
Balsdon, J. P. V. D. Roman Women. New York: John Day
Comp., 1963, pp. 52-53.
Pauly, A., G. Wissowa, and W. Kroll. Real-Encyclopadie
D. Classischen Altertumswissenschaft 1893— (Germany:
multiple publishers) 543.
Hj Julia (3)
(first century b.c.e.) Roman: Rome
politically well connected
Julia was the daughter of Aurelia (i), who came
from the family of the Aurelii Cottae, and Gaius
Julius Caesar, who died in 85 b.c.e. She was the
elder sister of Julius Caesar and Julia (4). Her first
husband was Lucius Pinarius of whom little is
known except that they had a son, Lucius Pinarius
Scarpus. She later married the equestrian Quintus
Pedius and had another son, Quintus Pedius, con-
sul in 43 b.c.e. In his will, Julius Caesar left a share
of his fortune to her two sons. They gave their
inheritance to Octavian, who had inherited three-
quarters of the estate.
Sources
Suetonius. The Lives of the Caesars: Caesar 83.2.
Pauly, A., G. Wissowa, and W. Kroll. Real-Encyclopadie
D. Classischen Altertumswissenschaft 1893— (Germany:
multiple publishers) 545.
Syme, Ronald. The Augustan Aristocracy. Oxford: Claren-
don Press, 1986.
Syme, Ronald. The Roman Revolution. London: Oxford
University Press, 1963, p. 128.
Julia (4)
(?-51 b.c.e.;
witness
Roman: Rome
Julia, along with her mother Aurelia (i), gave tes-
timony against Publius Clodius in the notorious
Bona Dea scandal of 62 b.c.e. Julia was the daugh-
ter of Gaius Julius Caesar, who died in 85 b.c.e.
Her mother came from the illustrious Aurelii Cot-
tae. Julia was the younger sister of Julius Caesar,
with whom she remained close throughout her
life. She married Marcus Atius Balbus from Aricia
161
Julia (5)
and had two daughters. The eldest, Atia (i), mar-
ried Gaius Octavius, and Julia became the grand-
mother of Octavian, the future emperor Augustus
and the independent Octavia (2).
In 62, Caesar was pontifex maximus, and his
household was the site of the celebration of the
Bona Dea rituals presided over by Julia and Aure-
lia. The religious rites, restricted to elite women,
were a traditional part of the Roman pax deorum,
which joined the well-being of the state with the
proper performance of an annual cycle of religious
ritual. Publius Clodius Pulcher, an aristocrat of the
finest lineage, violated the sanctity of the female-
only rite. He entered the household disguised as a
woman. It was alleged that he had an assignation
with Caesars wife Pompeia (i). Discovered and
tried with testimony from Julia and her mother, he
was acquitted with the help of large bribes. Caesar
was said not to have taken the matter seriously,
although he did divorce his wife in its wake.
After the death of her son-in-law Gaius Octa-
vius, Julias grandson Octavian lived with her for
eight years from 58 b.c.e. until her death in 51.
The 12-year-old Octavian delivered her funeral
oration.
Sources
Suetonius. The Lives of the Caesars: Augustus 4; 8.
Suetonius. The Lives of the Caesars: Caesar 74.2.
Pauly, A., G. Wissowa, and W. Kroll. Real-Encyclopadie
D. Classischen Altertumswissenschaft 1893— (Germany:
multiple publishers) 546.
Syme, Ronald. The Roman Revolution. London: Oxford
University Press, 1963, p. 112.
Julia (5)
(83-54 b.c.e.)
political wife
Roman: Rome
Julia, born in 83 b.c.e., was the only child of Julius
Caesar. Her mother was Cornelia (5), the young
first wife of Caesar. Julia was to marry Quintus
Servilius Caepio until her father and Gnaeus Pom-
peius (Pompey the Great) established a political
alliance (along with Marcus Licinius Crassus) in
April 59 for which her marriage with Pompey
formed the symbolic center.
The union did not appear promising. Julia was
Pompeys fourth wife. He was some 23 years her
senior and already had adolescent sons plus a
daughter of marriageable age. Nonetheless it
worked. Not only did Pompey and Caesar draw
closer together, but the sources claim that Pompey
handed over his provinces and armies to friendly
legates so that he and Julia could spend time on his
estates in Italy. The sources did not approve of
what they considered to be this dereliction of his
duty.
Julia had a miscarriage in 55, precipitated by
the arrival of servants carrying her husband's
clothes splattered with blood from an altercation
to which she later learned he was a witness, not a
participant. She died a year later in childbirth. Her
child died a few days later. Her death in 54 dis-
tressed her husband, her father, and their follow-
ers, who felt that she was the bond that kept their
alliance alive. Indeed, that alliance dissolved within
a few years. At the demand of the populace her
body was carried to the Campus Martius for final
rites.
Sources
Plutarch. Vitae Parallelae (Parallel Lives): Caesar 23.5-7.
Plutarch. Vitae Parallelae (Parallel Lives): Pompeius 47.6;
53.1-5.
Valerius Maximus. Factorum et dictorum memorahilium
libri LX4.6A.
Oxford Classical Dictionary, ed. by Simon Hornblower and
Antony Spawforth. 3d. ed. New York: Oxford Univer-
sity Press, 1996, p. 776.
Pauly, A., G. Wissowa, and W. Kroll. Real-Encyclopadie
D. Classischen Altertumswissenschaft 1893— (Germany:
multiple publishers) 547.
d Julia (6)
(39b.c.e.-15c.e.)
Roman: Italy, Gaul, and Pandateria
political player
Julia held a unique position in the Augustan
empire: She was the only child of the emperor.
Born in 39 b.c.e., her mother was Scribonia,
whom her father divorced to marry Livia
Drusilla. Her father ignored his own record of
162
Julia (6)
notorious divorce and second marriage to insist
that Julia live with rules and strictures from an ide-
alized vision of Rome's past. Brought up in the
household of her stepmother, she was to be an
example of women who lived lives dutifully
devoted to father, children, husband, and kin. Her
father insisted she be taught the ancient arts of
spinning and weaving and discouraged friendships
without his permission and approval.
Julia, however, was her father's daughter in more
ways than Augustus may have foreseen, and the
place she sought for herself was more than as a
model and docile wife bringing forth strong sons.
Educated and well read, she had a sharp and witty
tongue that challenged her father's restrictive vision
for her life. Julia, and possibly Augustus, suffered
the unintended consequences of their different
expectations. Beguiled by Julia's charm and wit,
her father underestimated her determination to
use fully her position as Caesar's daughter. She, on
the other hand, may have lost sight of her father's
ruthlessness.
Julia married Marcus Claudius Marcellus, the
son of Augustus's independent-minded sister
Octavia (2), in 25 b.c.e. The marriage might have
provided Augustus with a solution to his dynastic
problems had Marcellus not died two years later.
In 21 Julia married Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa,
Augustus's confidant, supporter, and adviser. Some
21 years older than Julia, this was his third mar-
riage. Moreover, to marry Julia, Agrippa divorced
the elder Marcella, who was Julia's cousin and
with whom he had had a harmonius marriage.
Despite the inauspicious circumstances, Julia had
five children over the next eight years: Gaius Cae-
sar; Lucius Caesar; Agrippa Postumus, who was
born after the death of his father; and two daugh-
ters, Julia (7) and the elder Agrippina. Augustus
adopted her three sons and brought them up as
members of his household to prepare for
succession.
Again widowed in 12 b.c.e., Julia married her
father's grown stepson, Tiberius. As with Agrippa,
to marry Julia Tiberius divorced his wife, Vipsania
Agrippina, with whom he had had an agreeable
relationship. The new marriage initially promised
success, and Julia traveled with Tiberius to north-
ern Italy when he campaigned in the Balkans, but
the relationship quickly deteriorated. The witty
and outgoing Julia thrived in a world distasteful to
her husband. He was stern and disciplined, little
given to the hothouse of gossip, intrigue, and
power politics that was the lifeblood of imperial
Rome. Primarily a military man, he appeared most
comfortable with more retiring women like his
first wife. During her husband's self-imposed exile
in 6 b.c.e., Julia remained in Rome. Secure in her
position as Caesar's daughter, she surrounded her-
self with a set of friends more her own age and
more in tune with her tastes.
She was alleged to have engaged in a series of love
affairs, and in 2 b.c.e., her father created a public
scandal with a letter to the Senate in which he
described her transgressions and named her lovers.
They made up a formidable group and included the
poet Sempronius Gracchus; the consul of 9 b.c.e.
Quinctius Crispinus; the patrician Appius Claudius
Pulcher, and Cornelius Scipio, who was her step-
brother. Their names resonated with republican
glory, and their probable leader was lull us Antonius,
the son of Mark Antony and Fulvia (2), who had
married Julia's cousin, the elder Claudia Marcella,
in 21 b.c.e. after her divorce from Agrippa.
Growing up in the households of Octavia, Livia,
and the other elite women who raised the mother-
less or fatherless children left in the wake of civil
wars, this first postwar generation of men and
women had probably known one another since
childhood. By 2 b.c.e. Julia and her circle were in
their late 30s and early 40s. Like Julia, most had
been married more than once. Many already had
nearly grown children and honorable political
careers. By then Julia's father was an old man. His
power was unchallenged, and his plans for succes-
sion repeatedly frustrated. The viciousness with
which he attacked Julia and her friends would pos-
sibly suggest a political motive hiding behind the
cloak of sexual misbehavior.
The descriptions of Julia that have come down
over time — soliciting in the Forum, indiscriminate
lewdness, and multiple simultaneous relationships —
strain credulity when compared with the evidence of
163
Julia (7)
an educated, proud, and witty 40-year old Roman
woman who had had three marriages, was twice wid-
owed, and had borne five children in eight years. The
punishments meted out by her father were equally
contradictory. He issued a decree divorcing Julia
from Tiberius, who was still on Rhodes. When
Tiberius wrote to ask that Julia be allowed to keep
her personal property, Augustus refused and instead
allowed her only a modest allowance. She was ban-
ished to the island of Pandateria off the coast of
Naples. Her mother, Scribonia, a woman renowned
for her virtue, accompanied her. No man was allowed
to visit her unless he was screened to determine that
he was politically safe and physically unattractive.
Her father further decreed that any illicit association
with her, or for that matter with any woman of the
Julian house, was henceforth high treason.
The banishment was not popular, and eventu-
ally Augustus allowed Julia to move to Reggio in
southern Italy. The men said to have been involved
with her were also exiled, with the exception of
Antonius, who was executed. Of the other women
in the circle, Augustus issued an edict that they
should not be punished for indiscretions more
than five years old.
Julia's father died without ending her exile. His
will specified that she should not be buried in his
tomb. Tiberius showed no pity or kindness to her
when he became emperor. He stopped the allow-
ance granted her by Augustus, since the emperor
had made no provision for it in his will. He also
restricted her to her house and allowed no visitors.
She died in 15 c.e. at the age of 53.
Sources
Dio Cassius. Roman History 54.6.5; 55.10.12-16, 13.1;
56.32.4; 57.18.1a.
Macrobius. Saturnalia 2, 5.
Pliny the Elder. Naturalis Historia 21.9.
Seneca. De beneficiis 6.32.1—2.
Suetonius. The Lives of the Caesars: Augustus 63.1—2; 64.1—
3; 65.1-4.
. The Lives of the Caesars: Tiberius 7.2—3; 11.4;
50.1.
Tacitus. Annales 1.53.
Balsdon, J. P. V. D. Roman Women. New York: John Day
Comp., 1963, pp. 81-87.
Bauman, Richard A. Women and Politics in Ancient Rome.
London: Routledge, 1994, index.
Fantham, Elaine. Julia Augusti. New York: Routledge,
2006.
Ferrill, A., "Augustus and His Daughters," pp. 332-346.
Hallett, Judith. "Perusinae Glandes and the Changing
Image of Augustus." American Journal of Ancient History
2(1977): 151-171.
Levick, Barbara. Tiberius the Politician. London: Thames
and Hudson, 1976, index.
Oxford Classical Dictionary, ed. by Simon Hornblower and
Antony Spawforth. 3d. ed. New York: Oxford Univer-
sity Press, 1996, pp. 776-777.
Pauly, A., G. Wissowa, and W. Kroll. Real-Encyclopadie
D. Classischen Altertumswissenschaft 1893— (Germany:
multiple publishers) 550.
Richlin, A. "Julia's Jokes, Galla Placidia, and the Roman
Use of Women as Political Icons." In Stereotypes of
Women in Power: Historical Perspectives and Revisionist
Views, ed. by B. Garlick, S. Dixon, and P. Allen. New
York: Greenwood Press, 1992, pp. 65-91.
Syme, Ronald. History in Ovid. New York: Oxford Univer-
sity Press, 1978, pp. 193fF.
. The Roman Revolution. London: Oxford Univer-
sity Press, 1963, index.
Julia (7)
(19 B.C.E.-28 C.E.)
political victim
Roman: Italy
Julia suffered the same tragic fate as her mother.
Born in 19 b.c.e., the granddaughter of Augustus,
her birth was heralded with the promise of lifelong
splendor. She was one of five children; her mother
Julia (6), was the only daughter of Augustus, and
her father, Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa, was the
famous general, statesman, and confidant of the
emperor. At her father's death, when she about
seven years old, she and her younger siblings —
Gaius Caesar, Lucius Caesar, Agrippa Postumus,
and the elder Agrippina — came under the author-
ity of her grandfather. He imposed on them tradi-
tions of virtue contradicted by the realities of the
new empire. In the face of imperial wealth and sta-
tus, the girls were taught spinning and weaving;
their relationships were closely controlled; and
their future was managed.
Augustus almost succeeded in his efforts to
mold his granddaughter. In 4 b.c.e. Julia married
164
Julia (8)
Lucius Aemilius Paullus, consul in 1 c.e. and a dis-
tant relation through their respective grandmoth-
ers. Julia's mother-in-law, Cornelia (8), whose
virtue and glory was eulogized in the poetry of
Propertius, came from a family that embodied the
greatness of the Roman republic. Over the next
decade, however, tragedies followed one after
another. In 2 b.c.e. Julias mother became part of a
public scandal that resulted in her exile for adul-
tery and conspiracy. Four years later her brother
Lucius died, followed two years later by her brother
Gaius. Her third brother, Agrippa Postumus, was
accused of brutal rebellious behavior by the
emperor and sent to Surrentum. The Senate later
voted to exile him on the island of Planasia.
In 8 c.e., exactly 10 years after her mothers
exile, Julia too was exiled. The nature of her crime
remains unclear. She was sent to the island of Tri-
merus off the Apulian coast on grounds of adultery
with Decimus Junius Silanus, a Roman aristocrat.
At the same time, her husband, Aemilius Paullus,
was accused of conspiracy against the aged emperor
and executed. The poet Ovid also exiled was sent
to Tomis on the Black Sea, a far outpost of the
empire where he remained until his death. After
the exile of her mother, Augustus had issued an
edict that illicit behavior with any woman of the
Julian clan would be considered high treason, yet
to punish Silanus Augustus merely revoked his
friendship with him. Silanus went into voluntary
exile and was later allowed to return to Rome by
the emperor Tiberius through the intervention of
his influential brother Marcus Silanus.
In exile, Julia gave birth, but Augustus refused
to allow the father to acknowledge the child, and it
was exposed on the emperor's orders. After 20
years in exile, Julia died in 28 c.e.
Sources
Suetonius. The Lives of the Caesars: Augustus 64. 1-3; 65.1, 4.
Tacitus. Annales 3.24; 4.71.
Bauman, Richard A. Women and Politics in Ancient Rome.
London: Routledge, 1994, pp. 120-121.
Fantham, Elaine. Julia Augusti. New York: Routledge,
2006.
Levick, Barbara. Tiberius the Politician. London: Thames
and Hudson, 1976, index.
Oxford Classical Dictionary, ed. by Simon Hornblower and
Antony Spawforth. 3d. ed. New York: Oxford Univer-
sity Press, 1996, p. 777.
Pauly, A., G. Wissowa, and W. Kroll. ReaTEncyclopadie
D. Classischen Altertumswissenschaft 1893— (Germany:
multiple publishers) 551.
Syme, Ronald. The Augustan Aristocracy. Oxford: Claren-
don Press, 1986, index.
. History in Ovid. New York: Oxford University
Press, 1978, pp. 206ff.
. The Roman Revolution. London: Oxford Univer-
sity Press, 1963, index.
Hj Julia (8)
(?— 43 c.e.) Roman: Rome
political victim
Julia shared the tragic fate of many women born
with her name. She was both pawn and actor in
the drama of succession to the emperor Tiberius
who was her grandfather on her father's side.
Through her mother, Livia Julia Claudia Livilla,
she was directly descended from Octavia (2), the
independent-minded sister of the emperor Augus-
tus. She married Nero Julius Caesar, the older son
of the elder Agrippina. The marriage joined the
direct descendants of Augustus and of his wife
Livia Drusilla in a line of succession through
Julia's father Drusus Julius Caesar.
When her father died in 23 c.e., succession
became an open hunting ground among the proba-
ble heirs. The battle for succession was dominated by
women. Julia's mother, Livilla, was a willing player.
Her opponent was the wily and ruthless Agrippina.
Each sought to secure the place of emperor for her
son. Livilla had one son, Julia's young brother,
Tiberius Gemellus, the survivor of twin sons born in
19 c.e. Agrippina had, in addition to Julia's husband,
two other sons waiting in the wings.
The married Julia was apparently close to Liv-
illa, but her husband was not Agrippina's favorite
child. In addition, neither one of the couple
appears to have been politically adroit. Julia's hus-
band was brash and indiscreet, outspokenly look-
ing forward to his own time of power. Julia rashly
disclosed her husband's intemperate remarks to her
mother.
165
Julia Aquilia Severa
Were not the wealth and power of the empire
the prize, the couple's behavior would have been
less noteworthy. However, Julia's mother had
become the accomplice of Lucius Aelius Sejanus,
the prefect of the Praetorian Guard. With Tiberius
relatively secluded in Capri, Sejanus became the
emperor's eyes and ears in Rome. His aspirations
possibly expanded to include marriage with Julia's
mother and even a regency over her small son.
The tales brought by Julia to her mother were
used as evidence by Sejanus to convince Tiberius
that Julia's husband Nero Julius Caesar was treach-
erous. In a letter to the Senate in 29 c.e., Tiberius
denounced him and his mother, Agrippina, for
plotting against the emperor. Agrippina was exiled
to Pandateria, and Nero, to Pontia. He was put to
death the following year.
Shortly thereafter, Tiberius turned on Sejanus
and accused him before the Senate of treason. He
was executed. Julia's mother was accused and con-
victed of being Sejanus's lover and of conspiring
with him to poison her husband, Tiberius's son,
eight years earlier. Released into the care of Julia's
grandmother the younger Antonia her mother
starved herself to death.
Still a widow in 33, Tiberius arranged that Julia
marry Gaius Rubellius Blandus, consul suffectus in
18 c.e. He came from an equestrian background,
which limited the threat any child of their mar-
riage would pose to the existing aspirants for suc-
cession. Although Rubellius Blandus was close to
60, and Julia, about 30, they soon had a son,
Rubellius Plautus. Julia however was still not safe.
By 43 Julia's uncle Claudius had succeeded
Tiberius. Valeria Messallina was his wife, and
Julia posed a possible obstacle to her plans for the
succession. Fearing a rival in anyone connected to
the imperial family, even Julia's equestrian son,
Messallina accused Julia of immoral conduct. She
was put to death.
Sources
Dio Cassius. Roman History 58.8, 9; 21.1; 60.18.4.
Tacitus. Annates 3.29.4; 6.27.1; 13.32.5; 13.43.4.
Bauman, Richard A. Women and Politics in Ancient Rome.
London: Routledge, 1994, index.
Levick, Barbara. Claudius: The Corruption of Power. New
Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press 1993, pp. 56-57.
Levick, Barbara. Tiberius the Politician. London: Thames
and Hudson, 1976, index.
Marsh, Frank Burr. The Reign ofTiberius. New York: Barnes
and Noble, 1931, pp. 182, 192.
Pauly, A., G. Wissowa, and W. Kroll. Real-Encyclopadie
D. Classischen Altertumswissenschaft 1893— (Germany:
multiple publishers) 552.
Syme, Ronald. The Augustan Aristocracy. Oxford: Claren-
don Press, 1986, index.
. Tacitus. 2 vols. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1958,
index.
[si Julia Aquilia Severa
(third century c.e.) Roman: Rome
Vestal Virgin married to emperor
Julia Aquilia Severa was a Vestal Virgin pressed
into marriage by the increasingly unstable emperor
Elagabalus in 219 or 220 c.e. after he divorced
Julia Cornelia Paula. In a letter to the Senate,
Elagabalus wrote that not only had he fallen in
love with Julia, but it was fitting that he, the high
priest, should marry a Vestal Virgin, a high priest-
ess, to create godlike children. Subsequently, he
divorced Julia Severa, married and divorced other
women, and then again married her in 221. Elaga-
balus was murdered the following year.
Sources
Dio Cassius. Roman History 80.9.3—4.
Herodian. History of the Empire 5.6.2.
Balsdon, J. P. V. D. Roman Women. New York: John Day
Comp., 1963, p. 159.
Pauly, A., G. Wissowa, and W. Kroll. Real-Encyclopadie
D. Classischen Altertumswissenschaft 1893— (Germany:
multiple publishers) 557.
[b] Julia Avita Mamaea
(?-235 c.e.) Roman: Syria and Italy
power broker
Julia Avita Mamaea successfully wielded power
during difficult times in the third century c.e.
Born the younger daughter of Julia Maesa and
the consul Julius Avitus, she married Gessius Mar-
cianus, a knight from Area Caesarea in Syria. She
was widowed after the birth of her son, Alexianus,
who would become the emperor Severus Alexan-
166
Julia Avita Mamaea
Julia Avita Mamaea
(Date: 232 c.£. 1944.100.53321, Archives,
American Numismatic Society)
der. All sources agree that Julia ruled her son and
through him the empire.
Like her mother and her aunt, Julia Domna,
Julia Mamaea was intelligent, strong willed, coura-
geous, pragmatic, and power-loving. Interested in
Christianity, she provided the theologian Origen
with a military escort to come to Alexandria and
deliver to her a sermon. Not surprisingly, her son,
after he assumed power, kept statutes of Christ and
Abraham along with the deified emperors of Rome
in his private chapel.
Julia Mamaeas position as the dominant impe-
rial force in the empire was won with blood. Her
mother had successfully plotted with Julias older
sister, Julia Soaemias Bassiana, to make Julias
nephew Elagabalus emperor of Rome. Once
emperor, Elagabalus's behavior became increas-
ingly scandalous and bizarre. Julia Soaemias not
only failed to curb her son but appeared to revel in
his extravagances. Julia Maesa feared that Elagaba-
lus would be overthrown, bringing to an end her
own position of power and influence. She then
conspired with her younger daughter, Julia
Mamaea, to replace Elagabalus with Alexianus.
Julia Maesa persuaded the 16-year-old Elagaba-
lus to adopt the 12-year-old Alexianus. His name
became Marcus Aurelius Alexander Caesar. Julia
Mamaea declared to the army that late emperor
Caracalla was the father of her son, just as her sister
had earlier claimed the late emperor father of
Elagabalus. Keeping her nephew appeased and the
troops well bribed, she had the younger boy tutored
in Latin and Greek and trained to behave as an
emperor. Within the year Julia Mamaea and her
mother arranged for the Praetorian Guard to kill
Elagabalus and Julia Soaemias. Alexianus assumed
the name Marcus Aurelius Severus Alexander and
became emperor in 222 c.e.
Julia Mamaea and her mother took up the reins
of government in the boy's name. They gained the
support of the Senate, establishing an advisory
council of 16 distinguished senators. They neither
sought the right to sit in the Senate nor to sign
decrees and they did not object when the Senate
abolished the right that had been granted Julia
Soaemias. They appointed Domitius Ulpian, a dis-
tinguished jurist, head of the Praetorian Guard
and charged him to restore order and discipline in
the army which had become lax and unruly under
Elagabalus. With Ulpian's advice, they instituted
financial reforms that increased the treasury and
allowed them to ease the burden of taxation that
had escalated under Caracalla and Elagabalus.
Expenditures for the imperial household were
modified. The corn supply was assured, and loans
at low interest were made available from the trea-
sury. In 223 the Praetorian Guard, angered at the
strict discipline imposed by Ulpian, mutinied and
pursued him into the palace. Ulpian was killed in
spite of Severus's attempt to save him. The leader
of the revolt was later executed.
After the death of her mother in 224, Julia
Mamaea alone directed Severus Alexander. She
instituted additional needed reforms and pushed
her son to ward behavior that was judicious and
fair, avoiding mass executions or deportations. For
12 years, between 222 and 235, the empire was
largely peaceful. During this period she may have
ended a marriage between her son and Gnaea Seia
Herennia Sallustia Barbia Orbiana, whose name
appeared on coins and inscriptions between 225
and 227. The daughter of Sallustius Macrinus,
167
Julia Cornelia Paula
whom Severus Alexander had appointed Caesar,
her father was executed for treason and Orbiana
was sent back to Africa.
In 233 the Persian king Artaxerxes invaded
Mesopotamia. Julia went with her son to Antioch
to oversee the troops. The campaign was not a
great success, but the Persians suffered enough
casualties to allow the Romans to regain Mesopo-
tamia. A greater threat now took place on the
Rhine, were German tribes invaded. Severus again
went to the front accompanied by Julia Mamaea.
She tried to placate the Germans rather than fight.
The Roman army regarded her behavior as cow-
ardly. In addition, they coveted for themselves the
bribe money that she used to buy off the Ger-
mans. In 235 they revolted under the leadership
of Maximinus and murdered both Julia Mamaea
and her son.
Sources
Dio Cassius. Roman History 79.30.2-4; 38.4; 80
(fragment)
Herodian. History of the Empire. 533, 7.1-5, 8.2-3, 10;
6.1-9.
Scriptores Historiae Augustae. Alexander Severus 3.1; 14.7;
26.9-11; 59.8; 60.1-2; 63.5.
Balsdon, J. P. V. D. Roman Women. New York: John Day
Comp., 1963, pp. 156-164.
Oxford Classical Dictionary, ed. by Simon Hornblower and
Antony Spawforth. 3d. ed. New York: Oxford Univer-
sity Press, 1996, p. 777.
[b] Julia Cornelia Paula
(third century c.e.) Roman: Italy
Augusta
Julia Cornelia Paula was the unfortunate first wife
of the emperor Marcus Aurelius Antoninus Elaga-
balus. He was the son of Julia Soaemias Bassiana
and took his name from the sun-god of Emesa in
Syria, for whom he was the hereditary priest. Julia
Paula came from an aristocratic family in Rome.
She married Elagabalus probably in the summer of
219 c.e., when he was about 16. Her marriage to
the young emperor may well have been an effort to
improve relations between the emperor and the
Senate. The nuptials were accompanied by an
expensive celebration with elaborate banquets,
gladiatorial contests, and the slaughter of some 51
tigers.
Julia Paula was given the title Augusta, and her
name appeared on coins. Elagabalus, whose behav-
ior became increasingly bizarre, divorced her
within a year. He claimed that she had a blemish of
some sort on her body. She returned to private life;
her successor, Julia Aquilia Severa, would be
hardly more successful as the emperors wife.
Sources
Dio Cassius. Roman History 80.9.1—4.
Herodian. History of the Empire 5.6.1.
Pauly, A., G. Wissowa, and W. Kroll. Real-Encyclopadie
D. Classischen Altertumswissenschaft 1893— (Germany:
multiple publishers) 564.
[b] Julia Domna
(second century-218 C.e.)
Roman: Syria and Italy
Augusta
Julia Domna was ambitious, indomitable, and
handsome. She came from Emesa in Syria, where
her father, Julius Bassianus, was the priest in the
Temple of the Sun. In 187 c.e. she married Lucius
Septimius Severus, whom she had met earlier
while he commanded a legion in Syria. He was
said to have remembered that her horoscope
matched his and sought her out after his wife
died. North African, from an equestrian family,
he was consul in 190 and became emperor in
193. They had two sons: Marcus Aurelius Antoni-
nus Caracalla was born in 188, Septimius Geta,
in 189.
After Septimius Severus became emperor, Julia,
her sister Julia Maesa, and the latter s two daugh-
ters, Julia Soaemias Bassiana and Julia Avita
Mamaea, collected around them an interesting cir-
cle that included the Greek philosopher Philostra-
tus, from whom Julia commissioned a biography
of Apollonius; the physician and medical writer
Galen; and possibly the historians Appian and
Dio.
Early in her husband's reign, Julia traveled with
him. She rebuilt the temple of Vesta in Rome and
168
Julia Drusilla (I)
restored a meeting hall for women erected by Vibia
Sabina in the Forum of Trajan. Her influence on
her husband diminished after 197 when he
appointed Plautianus, a fellow countryman from
Africa, as prefect of the Praetorian Guard. A cruel
and avaricious man, he perceived Julia as his
enemy. In 20 1 he threatened her with the charge of
adultery. The accusation, either dismissed or never
pursued, nevertheless curtailed her power. In 202,
Plautianus's daughter Plautilla married her son
Caracalla. Her son hated Plautilla as much as Julia
hated Plautillas father.
Julia Domna regained her former position
when Caracalla convinced his father that Plautia-
nus was traitor. After Plautianus was murdered on
January 22, 205, Caracalla divorced Plautilla and
banished her to the island of Lipara. Once more
secure, Julia Domna and her whole family accom-
panied her husband to Britain during his cam-
paign of 208-1 1 . She was named Augusta and was
also given the title of Mater Castrorum (Mother
of the Encampment).
After the death of her husband in 211, Julia
Domna successfully opposed dividing the empire
between her two sons. She worked to bridge their
mutual hatred. In February 212, Caracalla
requested a meeting with his brother with Julia
present to resolve their differences. Caracalla,
instead, sent centurions to murder Geta, who died
in Julias arms.
Julia Domna handled her unstable son Cara-
calla carefully, and as a result, her relationship with
him remained excellent. She focused him on his
responsibilities as emperor and sought to curb his
excessive expenditures. She spent a great deal of
time in Nicomedea on the Black Sea in Asia Minor
in 214—15 while her son was in the East on mili-
tary campaigns. There she received petitions and
answered most of the official correspondence. Dis-
patches to the Senate were sent in her name as well
as his. She held public receptions attended by
prominent men who sought from her the services
and benefits of an emperor. When Caracalla
became disabled by venereal disease, which increas-
ingly affected his temper, she effectively governed
in his name.
In April 217 Caracalla was murdered at the
instigation of the Praetorian prefect Macrianus,
who feared for his own life. Julia Domna received
the news in Antioch where she was conducting the
business of government. Initially, Macrianus
allowed Julia to retain her guards and other hon-
ors. She began to lay plans to overthrow Macrianus
and rule in his stead. He became suspicious and
ordered her out of Antioch. Ill with breast cancer
but unwilling to surrender power, she committed
suicide by starvation in Antioch in 218.
Sources
Dio Cassius. Roman History 76.15.6-7; 78.2.1-6; 18.2-3;
79.23-24.
Herodian. History of the Empire 3. 1 5.6; 4.3, 4—5.
Scriptores Historiae Augustae. Alexander Severus 18.8.
Balsdon, J. P. V. D. Roman Women. New York: John Day
Comp., 1963, pp. 150-156.
Birley, Anthony Richard. Septimius Severus: The African
Emperor. New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press,
1989, index.
Levick, Barbara. Julia Domna: Syrian Empress. New York:
Routledge, 2007.
Oxford Classical Dictionary, ed. by Simon Hornblower and
Antony Spawforth. 3d. ed. New York: Oxford Univer-
sity Press, 1996, p. 777.
Pauly, A., G. Wissowa, and W. Kroll. Real-Encyclopadie
D. Classischen Altertumswissenschafi 1893— (Germany:
multiple publishers) 566.
(D Julia Drusilla (I)
(16—38 c.e.) Roman: Rome
deified
Julia Drusilla was born in 16 C.e. into a family
plagued by misfortune. Her mother, the elder
Agrippina, and her father, Germanicus Julius
Caesar, were a popular couple and leading con-
tenders in the politics of succession to Tiberius.
Disaster struck when her father died suddenly at
Antioch in 19 c.e. Convinced that he had been
poisoned under orders from Tiberius, her mother
returned to Rome and entered the fray of impe-
rial politics. A decade later her mother and elder
brother, Nero Julius Caesar, were accused of trea-
son. Both exiled in 29, Nero was executed in 31,
and her mother died by starvation in 33. Another
169
Julia Drusilla (2)
brother, Drusus Julius Caesar, imprisoned in 30,
died in 33.
In 33, as the reign of the ailing Tiberius was
drawing to an end, Julia Drusilla married Lucius
Cassius Longinus, consul in 30 c.e. After her
brother, Gaius Caligula succeeded Tiberius, he dis-
solved her marriage. Her second husband was
Marcus Aemilius Lepidus, the son of Marcus
Aemilius Lepidus, consul in 6 c.e. Still clearly
close with her brother, rumors of an incestuous
relationship were fueled when Caligula named her
his heir during an illness in 37. In the malicious
gossip of the time, it was also rumored that her
husband was her brothers lover.
When Julia Drusilla died in 38, Caligula could
hardly contain his grief. He enforced public mourn-
ing throughout the empire. Although there was no
precedent, Julia Drusilla was deified as Panthea,
and the emperor had her statue placed alongside
the temple statues of the traditional female deities.
Sources
Dio Cassius. Roman History 59.1 1.1— 6.
Suetonius. The Lives of the Caesars: Gaius Caligula 7; 24.1-2.
Tacitus. Annates 6.15.4.
Balsdon, J. P. V. D. Roman Women. New York: John Day
Comp., 1963, p. 250.
Bauman, Richard A. Women and Politics in Ancient Rome.
London: Routledge, 1994, pp. 159-163.
Ferrill, A. Caligula: Emperor of Rome. London: Thames and
Hudson, 1991, index.
Oxford Classical Dictionary, ed. by Simon Hornblower and
Antony Spawforth. 3d. ed. New York: Oxford Univer-
sity Press, 1996, p. 777.
Pauly, A., G. Wissowa, and W. Kroll. Real-Encyclopadie
D. Classischen Altertumswissenschaft 1893— (Germany:
multiple publishers) 567.
Syme, Ronald. The Augustan Aristocracy. Oxford: Claren-
don Press, 1986, index.
(D Julia Drusilla (2)
(c. 40-January 24, 4 1 c.e.) Roman: Rome
political victim
Julia Drusilla was born in 40 c.e., either on the
day of her parents' marriage or a month before
they wed. She was the daughter of the emperor
Gaius Caligula and his fourth wife, Milonia Cae-
sonia. Her father, who was probably mad, claimed
that her birth was sudden and therefore supernatu-
ral. Supposedly, when she displayed her temper by
scratching the faces of playmates, her father
proudly claimed that by her temper he knew her to
be his daughter.
Drusilla died after her head was dashed against
a wall on January 24, 41, the same day on which
her mother and father were murdered.
Sources
Dio Cassius. Roman History 59.28.8.
Suetonius. The Lives of the Caesars: Gaius Caligula 25.3-4;
58.
Pauly, A., G. Wissowa, and W. Kroll. Real-Encyclopadie
D. Classischen Altertumswissenschaft 1893— (Germany:
multiple publishers) 568.
[b] Julia Flavia
(65—91 c.e.) Roman: Rome
Augusta; deified
Born in 65 c.e., Julia was the daughter of the
future emperor Titus Flavius Vespasianus by his
second wife, Marcia Furnilla. Her parents
divorced in 64. She was declared Augusta by her
father during his short reign, 79-8 1 .
Her father unsuccessfully sought to marry her
with his brother, the future emperor Titus Flavius
Domitian. Julia instead married her cousin Titus
Flavius Sabinus, who was consul with Domitian in
82 and whom Domitian executed in 84. After her
husband's death, Julia lived openly with Domitian.
She died in 91, and Domitian deified her. Her
death has been attributed to an abortion.
Sources
Dio Cassius. Roman History 67.3.2.
Pliny the Younger. Epistulae 4.11
Suetonius. The Lives of the Caesars: Domitian 22.1.
Suetonius. The Lives of the Caesars: Titus 4.2—4.
Balsdon, J. P. V. D. Roman Women. New York: John Day
Comp., 1963, p. 133.
Oxford Classical Dictionary, ed. by Simon Hornblower and
Antony Spawforth. 3d. ed. New York: Oxford Univer-
sity Press, 1996, p. 600.
Pauly, A., G. Wissowa, and W. Kroll. Real-Encyclopadie
D. Classischen Altertumswissenschaft 1893— (Germany:
multiple publishers) 552.
170
Julia Maesa
[a] Julia Livilla
(18-41 c.e.)
Roman: Italy, Germany, and Gaul
political player
Julia Livilla came from a family plagued by misfor-
tune. She was the youngest daughter of the popular
elder Vipsania Agrippina and Germanicus Julius
Caesar. Born in 18 c.e., one year before her fathers
unexpected death, her life was burdened with her
mothers suspicions. Bringing her husbands ashes
back from Antioch where he had died, Agrippina
was convinced that her husband's death had been
orchestrated by the emperor Tiberius. Scarcely a
decade later, her mother and brother, Nero Julius
Caesar, were charged with treason by Tiberius and
exiled to islands off the coast. The next year, he
imprisoned another brother, Drusus Julius Caesar.
In 33, the same year in which her exiled mother
starved herself to death and her brother Drusus
died in prison, she married Marcus Vinicius, consul
in 30 and 45. It was not a brilliant match, but it
may have been a peaceful one. Her husband, a gen-
tle person and a fine orator, came from an eques-
trian background outside the eternal imperial fray.
In 37 her brother Gaius Caligula became
emperor. He honored all his living siblings.
Although their sister Julia Drusilla was Caligula's
favorite, all the siblings were subject to malicious
gossip about incestuous relations. In 39, Julia Liv-
illa joined other family members and accompanied
the emperor and the army to Mainz in Germany.
On arrival, Caligula accused them of conspiracy,
treason, and adultery in a plot that included Julia
Livilla, the younger Agrippina, Marcus Aemilius
Lepidus, and the governor of Upper Germany
Gnaeus Cornelius Lentulus Gaetulicus. Julia Liv-
illa and her sister were banished to the Pontian
islands. Lepidus was executed.
When her uncle Claudius became emperor in
4 1 , he recalled both Julia Livilla and Agrippina from
exile and restored their property. However, Valeria
Messallina, her uncle's wife, was fearful of Julia
Livilla's beauty and jealous of both sisters' influence
over Claudius. Julia Livilla was soon accused of
adultery with Lucius Annaeus Seneca, a brilliant
orator and philosopher. Again exiled, this time to
the island of Pandateria, she was killed soon after.
Sources
Dio Cassius. Roman History 60.4.1; 8.4—5.
Suetonius. The Lives of the Caesars: Gaius Caligula 24.3.
Tacitus. Annales 6.15.
Ferrill, A. Caligula: Emperor of Rome. London: Thames and
Hudson, 1991, index.
Levick, Barbara. Tiberius the Politician. London: Thames
and Hudson, 1976, index.
Oxford Classical Dictionary, ed. by Simon Hornblower and
Antony Spawforth. 3d. ed. New York: Oxford Univer-
sity Press, 1996, p. 777.
Pauly, A., G. Wissowa, and W. Kroll. ReaTEncyclopadie
D. Classischen Altertumswissenschaft 1893— (Germany:
multiple publishers) 575.
Syme, Ronald. The Augustan Aristocracy. Oxford: Claren-
don Press, 1986, index.
[a] Julia Maesa
(second century-224 c.e.)
Roman: Syria, Asia, and Rome
power broker
Julia Maesa was ambitious and thrived in a world
of intrigue populated by strong women and weak
men. She was the daughter of Julius Bassianus of
Emesa in Syria and the sister of Julia Domna. She
married a Syrian, Julius Avitus, consul suffectus
and proconsul of Asia under her brother-in-law,
the emperor Lucius Septimius Severus. Avitus died
during the reign of Marcus Aurelius Antoninus
Caracalla, Julia Maesa's nephew. She had two
daughters, Julia Soaemias Bassiana and Julia
Avita Mamaea. After the murder of Caracalla and
the suicide of his mother, Julia Domna in 218 c.e.,
the emperor Marcus Opellius Macrinus ordered
Julia Maesa to leave Rome and return to Emesa.
She left with a great deal of wealth, amassed during
the previous reigns.
Julia Maesa plotted with her daughter Julia
Soaemias, a widow with a son, to have the boy
declared the child of Caracalla and thereby chal-
lenge the legitimacy of the emperor Macrinus. The
boy, Varius Avitus Bassianus, a very handsome 14-
year-old, was priest of the sun-god at Emesa, a posi-
tion that he inherited from his great-grandfather.
171
Juliana, Anicia
Julia Maesa
(Dote: 218 C.E.-222 C.E. 1970.77.1, Archives,
American Numismatic Society)
Smuggled into the army camp along with enough
of Julia Maesas gold to smooth the way, the sol-
diers proclaimed him emperor.
When Macrinus attacked, she and her daughter
leaped from their chariots and rallied the retreating
troops. With the young boy leading the forces,
they defeated Macrinus on June 8, 218. Macrinus
was killed as he fled to Rome in disguise. The boy
immediately assumed all of the titles and honors of
the emperor without waiting for confirmation by
the Senate and took the name Elagabalus, after the
sun-god of Emesa.
The 15-year-old emperor, along with Julia
Maesa, her daughters Julia Soaemias and Julia
Mamaea, and their entourage, began the trip to
Rome. Over a year later, in July 219, they
arrived.
Elagabalus's behavior became increasingly
erratic and bizarre. Julia Soaemias, who enjoyed
the luxurious life, failed to restrain him. Con-
cerned that his foolishness would result in the loss
of her own power and position, Julia Maesa con-
spired with her second daughter, Julia Mamaea, to
replace Elagabalus with her other grandson. They
convinced Elagabalus to adopt his 12-year-old
cousin Julia Mamaeas son Alexianus, and let it be
known to the army that Alexianus was also a son of
Caracalla. The plot succeeded. Elagabalus and his
mother were killed by the Praetorian Guard in
222, and Alexianus was declared emperor as Mar-
cus Aurelius Severus Alexander.
His mother, Julia Mamaea, now received the
title of Augusta and carefully supervised the edu-
cation and upbringing of her son. Since he was
only 13, Julia Maesa and Julia Mamaea were
unimpeded. No action was taken without the
approval of the two women. They ruled well. They
improved relations with the Senate by establishing
an advisory council of 16 senators. Julia Maesa
died two years later in 224 and was deified by her
grandson.
Sources
Dio Cassius. Roman History 79.30.2-4, 38.4.
Herodian. History of the Empire 5.3.2—3, 9—12; 5.5—6; 6.1,
4; 7.1-3; 8.3-4.
Scriptores Historiae Augustae. Marcus Aurelius Antoninus
(Marcus Aurelius) 9.
Balsdon, J. P. V. D. Roman Women. New York: John Day
Comp., 1963, index.
Oxford Classical Dictionary, ed. by Simon Hornblower and
Antony Spawforth. 3d. ed. New York: Oxford Univer-
sity Press, 1996, pp. 777-787.
[Bl Juliana, Anicia
(c. 461-527/528 c.e.)
Roman: Constantinople
political player
Anicia Juliana's bloodline reached back to Theodo-
sius the Great, which in the rapidly changing for-
tunes of the time was a currency of legitimacy with
incalculable value; her blood relationship with the
Vandals, moreover, only made her more desirable.
Juliana was the grandaughter of the Augusta
Licinia Eudoxia and Valentinian III, emperor in
the West. Her father, Anicius Olybrius, a member
of an illustrious and powerful Italian family, was in
the East when Gaiseric led the Vandals into Rome
in 455. Her mother, Placidia, however, was in
Rome. Her mother, grandmother, and her aunt
Eudocia either accompanied or were taken by
Gaiseric back to Carthage after he sacked the city.
Gaiseric insisted that Eudocia marry his son
172
Juliana, Anicia
Huneric in accordance with a betrothal that he had
arranged with Valentinian III years earlier before
the latter's death. Within a few years, and no doubt
having received a substantial payment from her
father and, possibly, Emperor Leo I, Gaiseric
released her grandmother and mother, who
returned to Constantinople.
Juliana's mother reached Constantinople in
460 and Juliana was born in 461. In August 461,
Gaiseric demanded that her father become
emperor in the West. It was a self-serving, but not
altogether impossible, demand made at a moment
of political disarray. Majorian, emperor since 457,
had died. Through his wife Placidia, Olybrius had
a connection to Valentinian and the Theodosian
line in the West. He was at least as likely a legiti-
mate successor as anyone else, and, from Gaiseric's
perspective, a most desirable successor, since Oly-
brius's wife Placidia and Eudocia were sisters. It
didn't happen.
In 472, however, Juliana's father briefly was
emperor of the West. The sequence of events was
another variation of the potential for exploiting
his wife and daughter's kinship with Eudocia and
Valentinian. Leo I, the emperor of the East, sent
Olybrius to settle a dispute between Anthemius,
the emperor in the West, and Anthemius's son-in-
law Ricimer. Leo also dispatched a secret emissary
to Anthemius ordering Olybrius's assassination,
since he feared the association with Gaiseric. The
plan, discovered by Ricimer and revealed to Oly-
brius, resulted in a vote of the Senate, in April
472, to make Olybrius emperor in the West.
Anthemius was killed in July 472. Olybrius died,
the unchallenged emperor of the West, on
November 2, 472.
Juliana and her mother remained in Constanti-
nople all during this period. However, even after
her father's death, she could not escape imperial
politics. In 478, still unmarried, the emperor Zeno
offered her, along with a huge amount of money,
to Theoderic, leader of the Goths. The offer was
rebuffed. Soon after, she married Flavius Areobin-
das. Son of a consular family, he became consul in
506 and served as a general under the emperor
Anastasius I in the campaign against Persia.
Juliana and her husband were orthodox Chris-
tians. They both supported the Chalcedon doc-
trine which upheld the two natures of Christ,
human and divine, conjoined yet separate. In 481,
Zeno issued a decree to reconcile the orthodox
position with the more moderate Monophysites,
who never accepted the Chalcedon compromise
and adhered to the single divine nature of Christ.
Zeno's adviser was Acacius, the Patriarch of Con-
stantinople, and when Zeno failed, Acacius was
excommunicated by Felix II, bishop of Rome. The
Acacian Schism began, lasting until 519, with
Alexandria a stronghold of Monophytism and
Constantinople favoring orthodoxy. During this
period and despite imperial and church pressure,
Juliana resisted any change in her position.
In 5 12, when the prelate Timothy attempted to
use a Monophysite text in St. Sophia, a mob rioted
and marched to Juliana's house proclaiming her
husband as emperor. He refused and the elderly
emperor Anastasius dispersed the crowd by offer-
ing to resign. In 519, she corresponded with Hor-
misdas, bishop of Rome, to facilitate legates from
the Roman bishop in Constantinople in another
attempt to end the schism.
Juliana was aware of her public position. She
built a number of churches, including one dedi-
cated to the Mother of God, and improved and
enlarged the Church of Saint Euphemia, built by
her grandmother Licinia Eudoxia and improved by
her own parents. The oldest and most famous copy
of Materia Medica of Dioscorides, an illuminated
Byzantine manuscript now in the Austrian National
Library, was given to her as a gift in appreciation of
her support for the construction of a church in
about 512.
Juliana died in 527/528 c.e.
Sources
John Malalas. Chronicle XIV vi., XVI. i, iii.
Malchus. Fragments 13, 16.
Priscus. Fragments 29, 204, 209. 1—2.
Theophanes. Chronicle AM 6005.
Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire. Vol. II. Edited By
A. H. M. Jones, J. R. Martindale, and J. Morris. Cam-
bridge: Cambridge University Press, 1971. Reprinted
1992, pp. 635-636.
173
Julia Phoebe
Julia Phoebe
(first century B.c.E.-first century c.e.)
Roman: Rome
I attendant
Julia Phoebe was a freedwoman of Julia (6), the
only child of the emperor Augustus and Scribo-
nia. When Julia was banished by Augustus in 2
b.c.e., Julia Phoebe, who was close to Julia, com-
mitted suicide.
Sources
Suetonius. The Lives of the Caesars: Augustus 65.2—3.
[a] Julia Procilla
(?-69 c.e.)
Roman: Gallia Narbonensis and Rome
honorable woman; murder victim
Julia Procilla died violently at the hands of maraud-
ing soldiers in 69 c.e. She had lived a principled life
that sought to balance study and political engage-
ment. Born in Narbonese Gaul, her father was an
imperial official named Julius Proculus. She mar-
ried Julius Graecinus, an equestrian and student of
philosophy. Her husband became a senator under
the emperor Tiberius and attained the office of
praetor. In 40 c.e., already irritated with him
because of his interest in philosophy, the emperor
Gaius Caligula had Graecinus executed when he
refused to accuse Marcus Junius Silanus of treason.
In the same year, Julia Procilla gave birth to a
son, Gnaeus Julius Agricola. After the death of her
husband, she returned with her son to Massilia
(Marseilles), where she attended to his education.
Later, Agricola's son-in-law, the great Roman his-
torian Cornelius Tacitus, would write that Agric-
ola would have immersed himself in philosophy
had his mother not wisely tempered this inclina-
tion and arranged that he also study more practi-
cal arts.
Her son became quaestor of Asia, tribune, prae-
tor, consul, and later legate of Britain. In 69 Julia
Procilla was murdered on her estate by plundering
sailors of the insurgent emperor Otho. The estate
itself was looted and a good part of Agricola's
inheritance was lost.
Sources
Tacitus. Agricola 4.7.
[b] Julia Soaemias Bassiana
(second century-222 c.e.)
Roman: Syria and Italy
Augusta
Julia Soaemias Bassiana successfully plotted to make
her son emperor. She was the elder of Julia Maesa's
two daughters. Her father was Julius Avitus and her
grandfather was Julius Bassianus, priest of the sun-
god at Emesa in Syria. She married Sextus Varius
Marcellus, an equestrian from Apamea in Syria
who died leaving her with a son, Varius Avitus.
Julia Soaemias conspired with her mother to have
her young son challenge the rule of Macrinus, who
had supplanted Marcus Aurelius Antoninus Cara-
calla as emperor. Caracalla had been her cousin; his
mother was her aunt, Julia Domna. Julia Soaemias
and her mother had lived with them in Rome. After
Caracalla's death the women were expelled. Using
the large fortune her mother had accumulated dur-
ing the reigns of Septimius Severus and Caracalla,
she gained support from the troops in Syria after she
declared that her son was the child of Caracalla and
the legitimate heir. Gannys, who was her lover and
her sons tutor, and an army soldier named Comazon
were her coconspirators in the army camp who ral-
lied the troops to her cause. The defeated Macrinus
fled and was murdered on the way to Rome.
Avitus, the hereditary priest of the sun-god
Elagabalus at Emesa in Syria, became Emperor
Elagabalus in 218 c.e. He was 15 years old. Imme-
diately he assumed all the titles of the office with-
out regard for custom, which assigned to the
Roman Senate the right to bestow the offices and
titles of the emperor. Julia Soaemias, her son, her
mother, her sister Julia Avita Mamaea, Gannys
and Comazon, and their supporters traveled to
Rome Elagabalus carried with him the black coni-
cal stone image of the sun-god. In Nicomedea,
Elagabalus murdered Gannys after he attempted to
temper the young emperor's behavior.
When the party reached Rome a year later, in
July 219, Elagabalus heaped honors on his mother.
174
Junia (2)
She was named Augusta and called Mater Augus-
torum (Mother of Augustus) and Mater Castorum
(Mother of the Encampment). Elagabalus reput-
edly brought her into the Senate chamber. She also
presided over a female senate that issued a set of
rules of etiquette for women, including clothing to
be worn in public and proper means of convey-
ance. Elagabalus's behavior became increasingly
erratic and scandalous as he married and divorced
a number of women including Julia Cornelia
Paula and the Vestal Virgin Julia Aquilia Severa
Julia Soaemias, who enjoyed her lifestyle, made no
attempt to curb her son.
Her mother, Julia Maesa, determined that
Elagabalus and her daughter must be removed
before his troops revolted. She hatched a plot with
her younger daughter, Julia Mamaea, to replace
Elagabalus with Alexianus, Julia Mamaea's son.
Julia Maesa first persuaded Elagabalus, who was
16, to adopt Alexianus, who was 12. When Elaga-
balus began to suspect a plot, Julia Maesa and Julia
Mamaea had soldiers of the Praetorian Guard mur-
der him and Julia Soaemias in Rome in 222. Their
bodies were stripped naked and dragged all over
Rome. Alexianus, who was 13, was proclaimed the
new emperor, but power remained in the hands of
the women, Julia Mamaea and her mother.
Sources
Dio Cassius. Roman History 79.30.2-4, 38.4; 80.3-6,
20.2.
Herodian. History of the Empire 533, 8.8—10.
Balsdon, J. P. V. D. Roman Women. New York: John Day
Comp., 1963, pp. 156-162.
Oxford Classical Dictionary, ed. by Simon Hornblower and
Antony Spawforth. 3d. ed. New York: Oxford Univer-
sity Press, 1996, p. 778.
Pauly, A., G. Wissowa, and W. Kroll. Real-Encyclopadie
D. Classischen Altertumswissenschaft 1893— (Germany:
multiple publishers) 596.
(D Junia (I)
(first century b.c.e.) Roman: Rome
conspirator
Junia was one of three daughters born to Servilia
(i) and Decimus Junius Silanus, consul in 63 and
62 b.c.e. Her sisters were Junia (2) and Junia Ter-
tia. Her mother had been the lover of Julius Cae-
sar, and her uncle was the republican Marcus
Porcius Cato Uticensis. Her half brother was Mar-
cus Junius Brutus, one of Caesar's assassins. Her
father was dead by 57 b.c.e. her forceful mother
who wielded power by virtue of her personality and
connections, arranged marriages for all three sisters.
Shortly after 61, Junia married Marcus Aemilius
Lepidus, consul in 46 and, along with Antony and
Octavian, a member of the Second Triumvirate.
She had two sons, Marcus and Quintus.
Her husband was removed from office by Octa-
vian, and Octavians general, Gaius Maecenas, pros-
ecuted her son Marcus for plotting to assassinate
Octavian on his return to Rome in 30 b.c.e. He sent
Marcus to Octavian in Actium, where he was exe-
cuted. Maecenas also charged Junia, claiming that
she was aware of the plot. To spare her the trip to
Actium, Maecenas demanded surety that she would
appear before Octavian when he came to Rome.
Her husband went to the consul suffectus, Lucius
Saenius, to put himself up as security for his wife or
else be allowed to accompany her to Actium. The
consul released Junia. Whether she subsequently
made peace with Octavian or died is unrecorded.
Sources
Appian. Roman History: Bella civilian (Civil Wars) 4.50.
Pauly, A., G. Wissowa, and W. Kroll. Real-Encyclopadie
D. Classischen Altertumswissenschaft 1893— (Germany:
multiple publishers) 193.
Syme, Ronald. The Augustan Aristocracy. Oxford: Claren-
don Press, 1986, pp. 19,35.
Junia (2)
(first century b.c.e.)
political player
Roman: Rome
Junia was one of three daughters born to Servilia
(1) and her second husband, Decimus Junius Sila-
nus, consul in 63-62 b.c.e. The other two were
Junia (i) and Junia Tertia. Marcus Junius Brutus,
the tyrannicide, was her half brother, and the repub-
lican Marcus Porcius Cato Uticensis, her uncle.
Although her father died in 57, her mother was well
able to care for her. One of the most politically astute
175
Junia (3)
women of her day, Servilia and Julius Caesar had
been lovers, remained friends, and traded favors.
Junia married Publius Servilius Isauricus, con-
sul in 48 b.c.e. and a supporter of Julius Caesar.
He was a good choice. A careful man, he navigated
a narrow course through the political conflicts
after the death of Caesar. Marcus Tullius Cicero,
who did not trust him, tried to win him over, but
he claimed family obligations. Related to the tyran-
nicides not only through Junias half brother Bru-
tus but also through two brothers-in-law, Gaius
Cassius Longinus and Marcus Aemilius Lepidus,
he sought a conciliatory role. He might even have
entertained the idea of serving as a mediator
between Caesarians and the republicans, which his
mother-in-law, Servilia, would have welcomed.
Junia gave birth to a son and a daughter. Her
daughter, Servilia (3), was to have married the
young Octavian in 43 b.c.e. when her uncle, Mar-
cus Aemilius Lepidus, was part of the Second Tri-
umvirate with Octavian and Antony. Octavian
instead married Claudia (5), the daughter of Ful-
via (2) and the stepdaughter of Antony. To placate
Junias husband, Octavian supported him in his
successful bid for the consulship for 41. Junias
daughter, Servilia, later married her cousin Marcus
Aemilius Lepidus, the son of her sister Junia. Junias
son-in-law was prosecuted by Octavian's intimate
friend and supporter Gaius Maecenas for plotting
to kill Octavian in 30 b.c.e. and was sent to
Actium, where he was executed.
Sources
Suetonius. The Lives of the Caesars: Augustus 62.1.
Pauly, A., G. Wissowa, and W. Kroll. Real-Encyclopadie
D. Classischen Altertumswissenschaft 1893— (Germany:
multiple publishers) 192.
Syme, Ronald. The Augustan Aristocracy. Oxford: Claren-
don Press, 1986, pp. 19, 35.
Junia (3)
(first-second century c.e.)
priestess
Roman: Rome
Junia and nursed her. Junia died of the disease.
Fannia, who had suffered exile three times, became
infected and also died.
Sources
Pliny the Younger. Epistulae 7.19.
[b] Junia Calvina
(?-79 c.e.) Roman: Italy
'-lived woman
Junia, a Vestal Virgin, became seriously ill with
tuberculosis and had to be removed from the house
of the Vestals. The Stoic Fannia (2), was related to
Junia Calvina was the only one of five siblings to
die a natural death. Unconventional and beautiful,
she was the last direct descendant of the emperor
Augustus. Her great-grandmother was Augustus's
only daughter, Julia (6). Her mother was Aemilia
Lepida (3) and her father, Marcus Junius Silanus
Torquatus, was consul in 19 c.e.
Junias clear claim on succession by virtue of
her ancestry simultaneously made her a desirable
marriage partner and left her vulnerable. She
married Lucius Vitellius, consul suffectus in 48
c.e., the younger son of a close ally of the emperor
Claudius. Divorced for unknown reasons the
same year, she was accused by her former father-
in-law, Vitellius, of incest with her brother Lucius
Junius Silanus Torquatus. The sources attributed
the charge to the younger Julia Agrippina, the
emperor Claudius's niece, who would become his
wife a year later, and who was assiduous in clear-
ing the way for the succession of her son, Nero.
Julia Calvina was sent into exile in 49, and her
brother committed suicide on the day that Agrip-
pina married Claudius.
Agrippina prevailed, and Nero became emperor.
After his mother's death, Nero ended Junia's exile,
and she returned to Rome. Her other siblings were
not as fortunate. Nero forced her brother Decimus
Junius Silanus to commit suicide. Her sister Junia
Lepida was falsely accused of engaging in magical
practices and having sexual relations with her
nephew, Lucius Junius Silanus. In 79, when the
emperor Vespasian was informed on his deathbed
that a huge crevice had appeared in the mausoleum
of Augustus, he was said to have quipped that it
was for Julia Calvina, Augustus's long-lived last
descendant.
176
junia Silana
Sources
Suetonius. The Lives of the Caesars: Vespasian 23.
Tacitus. Annates 12.4.8; 14.12.
Balsdon, J. P. V. D. Roman Women. New York: John Day
Comp., 1963, pp. 129-130.
Oxford Classical Dictionary, ed. by Simon Hornblower and
Antony Spawforth. 3d. ed. New York: Oxford Univer-
sity Press, 1996, p. 787.
Pauly, A., G. Wissowa, and W. Kroll. Real-Encyclopadie
D. Classischen Altertumswissenschafl 1893— (Germany:
multiple publishers) 198.
Syme, Ronald. The Augustan Aristocracy. Oxford: Claren-
don Press, 1986, index.
[b] Junia Claudilla
(first century c.e.) Roman: Rome
political wife
Junia Claudilla was the daughter of Marcus Junius
Silanus, a noted orator and consul suffectus in 15
c.e., and the sister of Junia Silana. Her mother is
unknown. The emperor Tiberius arranged her mar-
riage to Gaius Caligula in 33. She died in child-
birth a few years later, before her husband became
emperor. In 38, Caligula forced her father to com-
mit suicide.
Sources
Suetonius. The Lives of the Caesars: Gaius Caligula 6.20.1;
12.1-2.
Levick, Barbara. Tiberius the Politician. London: Thames
and Hudson, 1976, pp. 207, 215.
Pauly, A., G. Wissowa, and W. Kroll. Real-Encyclopadie
D. Classischen Altertumswissenschafl 1893— (Germany:
multiple publishers) 199.
Junia Lepida
(first century c.e.)
political player
Roman: Italy
Junia Lepida, one of five siblings, including Junia
Calvina, who were the last generation of direct
descendants of the emperor Augustus, was a victim
of the struggle for succession to the emperor
Claudius. Her mother, Aemilia Lepida (3), was
the great-granddaughter of Augustus, and her
father, Marcus Julius Silanus Torquatus, was an
orator of note and consul in 19 c.e.
She married the eminent jurist Cassius Longi-
nus, consul suffectus in 30 c.e. In 65 the emperor
Nero accused her of engaging in magical practices
and having sexual relations with her nephew Lucius
Junius Silanus. He also charged her nephew and
husband with treason.
Silanus was murdered before his exile took
place, and her husband was exiled to Sardinia. He
was later recalled by the emperor Vespasian. Noth-
ing more is known about Junia.
Sources
Tacitus. Annales 16.8.
Pauly, A., G. Wissowa, and W. Kroll. Real-Encyclopadie
D. Classischen Altertumswissenschaft 1893— (Germany:
multiple publishers) 203.
Syme, Ronald. The Augustan Aristocracy. Oxford: Claren-
don Press, 1986, index.
[b] Junia Silana
(?-59 c.e.) Roman: Italy
political player
Junia Silana was both beautiful and of noble lin-
eage. Under three different emperors she took part
in the battles waged among the elite over power,
prestige, and succession. She was the daughter of
Marcus Junius Silanus, consul suffectus in 1 5 c.e.
Her sister, Junia Claudilla, married the young
Gaius Caligula probably in 30 or 31 and died in
childbirth a few years later. Caligula forced her
father to commit suicide in 38. After Claudius
became emperor in 48, she married Gaius Silius,
consul designate and considered one of the hand-
somest men in Rome.
Her marriage was destroyed by the relationship
between her husband and Valeria Messallina, wife
of the emperor. Messallina and Silius may have
been allies in a conspiracy to supplant Claudius.
The powerful freedmen around Claudius, led by
Narcissus, convinced the emperor of their nefarious
intent, and the lovers were seized and executed.
Junia was a close friend of the younger Julia
Agrippina who followed Messallina as the wife of
Claudius and who was intent upon her son Nero's
succession to the emperor. She broke with Agrip-
pina, however, when the latter told the young
177
Junia Tertia
Sextius Africanus, whom the widowed Junia
wanted to marry, that Junia was both immoral
and too old. Gossip had it that Agrippina was not
interested in Africanus but hope to keep Junia a
widow so that she might inherit her estate.
Junia found an opportunity for revenge. In 55,
when Nero began to tire of his mother's domina-
tion, Junia arranged for Nero to suspect Agrippina
of conspiracy. She had two of her clients tell
Atimetus, a freedman of Nero's aunt Domitia,
that Agrippina was plotting with Rubellius Plau-
tus against Nero. Domitia had ample cause to
share Junia's hated of Agrippina. Agrippina, the
widow of Domitia's brother, had persuaded Domi-
tia's husband, consul in 44 c.e., to divorce his wife
so that he could marry her. She was also responsi-
ble for the execution of Domitia's sister, Domitia
Lepida.
Junia's revenge failed. Nero was prepared to
order his mother's death but was persuaded to
allow Agrippina to defend herself. A delegation
was sent to Agrippina, who convinced them of her
innocence. The accusers, including Junia Silana,
were exiled in 55. In 59 Nero lifted her exile, but
she died in Tarentum (modern Taranto) before she
could return to Rome.
Sources
Suetonius. The Lives of the Caesars: Gaius Caligula 12.
Tacitus. Annales 11.12; 13.19-21.
Balsdon, J. P. V. D. Roman Women. New York: John Day
Comp., 1963, pp. 120-121.
Bauman, Richard A. Women and Politics in Ancient Rome.
London: Routledge, 1994, pp. 196-198.
Pauly, A., G. Wissowa, and W. Kroll. Real-Encyclopadie
D. Classischen Altertumswissenschaft 1893— (Germany:
multiple publishers) 205.
Syme, Ronald. The Augustan Aristocracy. Oxford: Claren-
don Press, 1986, index.
[b] Junia Tertia
(73 B.c.E-22 c.e.) Roman: Italy
political player
Junia Tertia outlived her enemies and supporters
alike, dying at age 95 in the reign of the emperor
Tiberius. The youngest of three sisters, her parents
were Servilia (i) and Decimus Junius Silanus,
consul in 62 b.c.e. Her father died by 57, but her
mother played a significant part in the politics
before and after the assassination of Julius Caesar.
Her mother arranged her marriage with Gaius
Cassius Longinus, later one of Caesar's assassins.
They had a son who assumed the toga virilis on the
Ides of March in 44 b.c.e.
Despite a recent miscarriage, Junia Tertia was
present at a meeting at Antium on June 8, 44 b.
c.e., called and presided over by her mother, who
was acknowledged to have once been the lover
and still a friend of the recently slain Caesar. Also
present were Junia's husband, Cassius; Marcus
Tullius Cicero; her half brother Brutus; and his
wife Porcia, the daughter of Marcus Porcius Cato
Uticensis and a cousin of Junia. The meeting was
called to decide on a response to the Senate's offer
to appoint Brutus and Cassius supervisors for the
collection of corn taxes in the provinces of Asia
and Sicily. It provided an honorable way for them
to escape the city in the aftermath of Caesar's
assassination. Cicero argued that the offer should
be accepted; Brutus was undecided and Cassius
contemptuous. No decision was taken, but Ser-
vilia declared that she would see to it that the offer
was withdrawn.
Junia's husband, Cassius, committed suicide in
42 b.c.e. after his camp was captured at Philippi
by the troops of Antony and Octavian. She never
remarried and died a very wealthy widow in 22
c.e. She left legacies to almost every important
patrician. Although she did not mention the
emperor Tiberius, he allowed a splendid celebra-
tion of her funeral. Emblems of 20 great republi-
can houses were carried in the funeral procession.
Sources
Cicero. Epistulae ad Atticum 14.20.2; 15.11.1.
Macrobius. Saturnalia 2.2; 5.
Tacitus. Annales 3.76.
Pauly, A., G. Wissowa, and W. Kroll. Real-Encyclopadie
D. Classischen Altertumswissenschaft 1893— (Germany:
multiple publishers) 206.
Syme, Ronald. The Augustan Aristocracy. Oxford: Claren-
don Press, 1986, index.
. The Roman Revolution. London: Oxford Univer-
sity Press, 1963, pp. 69, 116, 492.
178
Justina
[b] JuniaTorquata
(first century B.c.E.-first century c.e.)
Roman: Rome
priestess
Junia Torquata was a Vestal Virgin for 64 years and
served as the head of the Vestal college for much of
that time. Considered a woman of exemplary vir-
tue, she lived a more fortunate life than did her
siblings. She was born into a noble family proba-
bly the daughter of Appia Claudia and Junius Sila-
nus, about whom little is known.
In 8 c.e., her brother Junius Silanus was charged
with an adulterous relationship with Julia (7), the
granddaughter of the aging emperor Augustus. He
went into voluntary exile. In 20, her brother Mar-
cus used his influence with the emperor Tiberius
to allow Junius's return to Rome. Two years later,
her brother Gaius Silanus was accused of extortion
and treason. Found guilty, he was exiled.
Junia intervened with the emperor. Tiberius
requested of the Senate that Gaius Silanus be sent
to the island of Cythnus rather than the bleak and
uninhabited island of Gyaruss. The Senate acqui-
esced and also approved a motion supported by
Tiberius that any property of Silanus that came
from his mother should not be confiscated but
given to his son.
Sources
Tacitus. Annates 3.69.
Syme, Ronald. The Augustan Aristocracy. Oxford: Claren-
don Press, 1986, pp. 193, 196.
Justina
(?-c. 391 c.e.
regent
Roman: Gaul, Italy
Justina ruled as regent for her son Valentinian II
(who was co-emperor in the West with his step-
brother Gratian) after the death of her husband,
Valentinian I. Justina was beautiful, and Valentin-
ian divorced his first wife to marry her. She traveled
with her husband and had four children, before he
had a stroke and died on maneuvers in 375. Jus-
tina, with the support of her husbands ministers,
especially the military leaders in Illyricum, and her
uncle, friend, and longtime confidant, Cerealis, led
the troops to declare her four-year-old son Emperor
Valentinian II, with imperium over Italy, Africa,
and Illyricum. The threat of insurrection from the
Illyricum army led Justina's stepson and emperor in
the West, Gratian, to accept the imperium of Valen-
tinian II and Justina's regency.
Justina was the daughter of Lustus and the sister
of Cerealis, a tribune of the imperial stables. At an
early age she was betrothed to Magnentius, a senior
military general in the short-lived reign of Con-
stans. One of the three sons of Constantine the
Great, Constans died in battle with his brother fol-
lowing Constantine's death. In January 350, Mag-
nentius led a coup in Gaul. He was proclaimed
Augustus and the western provinces quickly
accepted his rule, but in September 351, Constan-
tius II, the most successful son of Constantine,
defeated him in battle. Two years later, in 353, he
committed suicide in Gaul. Justina's life during the
period is unknown.
On August 25, 383 c.e., Justina's stepson,
Gratian, died in Britain in an army revolt led by
Magnus Maximus. The troops declared Maximus
emperor. However, he made no effort to invade
Italy, and Theodosius, who recognized Maximus,
compensated Justina for the loss of Britain with
rule over Dacia and Macedonia.
Politics and religion were never far apart. Jus-
tina was an Arian Christian as had been the
Augusta Helena, the mother of Constantine the
Great, and his half sister Constantia, as well as
the Augusta Eusebia and Domnica. Arianism had
less support in the East than the West where it was
especially popular among the Germans. In Milan,
which was the western seat of power, the Arian
bishop, Auxentius, asked Ambrose, the orthodox
bishop of Milan, to provide an Arian church.
Ambrose refused. In 386, Justina issued an edict
through her son that granted freedom of assembly
to those who had that right by a church council
under the emperor Constantius II and an order to
exile Ambrose. It failed. Thousands of Ambrose's
followers flocked to the church. Ambrose kept up
179
Justina
the spirits of the collected thousands blockaded in
the church by singing hymns. Justina gave up and
withdrew her troops.
In 387, Maximus invaded Italy and Justinia
fled with Valentinian and her daughter Galla to
Thessalonica in Macedonia. Theodosius came to
Thessalonica and was entranced by the beauty of
Galla, whom Justina had knowingly used as bait to
secure her return to Rome. A marriage was agreed
upon and Theodosius sent Justina and her children
to Rome by ship. Maximus was defeated. Valentin-
ian regained control over Italy in 388. Justina dis-
appears from the historical record and probably
died within the year.
Sources
Ambrose. Letter XX.
Ammiamus Marcellinus XXVIII. 2, 10. XXX. 10. 4.
Socrates. Historia Ecclesiastica IV. 31. 10—17.
Sozomen. Historia Ecclesiastica VII. 13. 2, 11; 14. 7.
Zosimus. New History/Zosimus. A translation with com-
mentary by Ronald T. Ridley. Canberra: Australian
Association of Byzantine Studies, 1982.
Jones, A. H. M. The Later Roman Empire 284-602: A Social
Economic and Administrative Survey. 2 vols. Norman:
University of Oklahoma Press, 1964.
Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire. Vol. I. Edited by
A. H. M. Jones, J. R Martindale, and J. Morris. Cam-
bridge: Cambridge University Press, 1971. Reprinted
1992, pp. 488-489.
180
L
6N0
Labda
(seventh century b.c.e.
heroine
Greek: Corinth
Labda was said to have lived during the seventh
century b.c.e. in Corinth, which had been cap-
tured by Dorian Greeks invading from the north
during the previous century. Her father was Amph-
ion from the clan of the Bacchiadae, the first
Dorian rulers. She married Eetion, one of the con-
quered Lapithi.
Her husband consulted the oracle at Delphi
since he had not yet fathered a son. The priestess
foretold that Labda would have a son who would
conquer Corinth. Her family saw the prophecy
as a message of their downfall. They sent 1 men
to kill the son Labda had delivered. Labda
allowed them into the house to admire the child,
who beguiled them. They returned with the
intention of kidnapping the boy. Labda over-
heard their plans. She successfully hid the baby
in a bin. The would-be assassins returned to
Corinth and claimed that the child had been
killed.
Her son Cypselus overthrew the Bacchiadae
and became tyrant of Corinth (c.657-25 b.c.e.).
Sources
Herodotus. The Persian Wars 5.92.
Oxford Classical Dictionary, ed. by Simon Hornblower and
Antony Spawforth. 3d. ed. New York: Oxford Univer-
sity Press, 1996, p. 420-421.
Laelia
(second-first century b.c.e.
orator
Roman: Rome
Laelia was an elegant speaker. Her father was
Gaius Laelius, consul in 140 b.c.e. and one of the
greatest orators of his time. After the Punic Wars,
the study of Greek literature and philosophy
spread among the educated elite of Rome. Laelia's
family became patrons of literature and art. Her
father taught her rhetoric. Laelia married Quin-
tus Mucius Scaevola, an outstanding orator and
consul in 1 17 b.c.e. He taught Marcus Tullius
Cicero, who compared Laelia favorably with her
father. Years later, the great rhetorician Quintilian
also praised her.
Laelia's daughter Mucia and her granddaugh-
ters Licinia (i) and Licinia (2) were also elegant
rhetoricians.
Sources
Cicero. Epistulae ad Brutum 58.211—12.
Quintilian. Institutio Oratoria 1.1, 6.
Bauman, Richard A. Women and Politics in Ancient Rome.
London: Routledge, 1994, pp. 47-48.
181
Lais
(D Lais
(fifth-fourth century b.c.e.)
Greek: Sicily, Corinth, and Thessaly
self-made woman
Lai's was beautiful. Her mother was Lysandra, a
lover of Alcibiades, the Athenian statesman and
general. When she was seven years old, she and her
mother were brought to Corinth, Greece, as pris-
oners after the fortified town of Hycarra in Sicily
fell during the Peloponnesian Wars.
Lai's was said to have been the lover of the
famous painter Apelles, although her dates make
the claim improbable. More likely, she followed a
lover to Thessaly, in northern Greece, where she
was said to have died at the hands of women who
feared her beauty. The women were said to have
stoned her after they lured her into the temple of
Aphrodite.
Her tomb beside the river Peneus was said to
have an epitaph that recorded her power to enslave
the invicible Greeks with her godlike beauty.
Sources
Athenaeus. Deipnosophistae 13.588c-89b.
Plutarch. Vitae Pamllelae (Parallel Lives): Alcibiades
39.4-5.
Plutarch. Moralia: Amatorius 767 f— 68b.
Plutarch. Nicias 15 .4.
Licht, Hans. Sexual Life in Ancient Greece. Trans, by J. H.
Freese. London: Abbey Library, 1971, p. 347.
[b] Lamia
(fourth-third century b.c.e.)
Cyprian: Cyprus and Egypt
flute player
Lamia, a noted flute player, captivated the hand-
some Macedonian general Demetrius I when she
was taken prisoner in 306 b.c.e., after he defeated
Ptolemy I in a naval battle. No longer young her-
self, she was said to have been older than
Demetrius.
Sources
Plutarch. Vitae Parallelae (Parallel Lives): Demetrius 16.3-4;
20.4; 27.2-6.
[b] Lanassa
(fourth-third century b.c.e.)
Greek: Syracuse, Corcyra, and Greece
political player
Lanassa left her husband, took back her dowry, and
then offered herself in marriage to the ruler of
Macedonia. She was the daughter of Agathocles,
the tyrant of Syracuse, on the island of Sicily. She
married Pyrrhus, the great general and ruler of Epi-
rus in northwestern Greece. As her dowry, she had
been given the large island of Corcyra (modern
Corfu) off the coast of Greece in the Ionian Sea.
She became disenchanted with Pyrrhus, who
had taken another wife, and left Epirus for Corcyra.
In 292 or 291 b.c.e. she offered to marry the
handsome Demetrius I, ruler of Macedonia, and
to bring him Corcyra as a dowry. The offer was too
good to refuse. She became one of Demetrius's
wives. In 288, her new husband was defeated by
her former husband and the general Lysimachus.
Demetrius fled to Asia. He died five years later, in
283 b.c.e.
Lanassa had a son, Alexander, by her first
husband.
Sources
Plutarch. Vitae Parallelae (Parallel Lives): Pyrrhus 9.1; 10.5.
Macurdy, Grace. Hellenistic Queens. Reprint. Chicago: Ares
Publishers, 1985, pp. 66-67.
[a] Laodice I
(third century b.c.e.)
Greek: Syria and Asia Minor
ruler
Laodice fought for power for herself and her sons
in the tumultuous generations following the death
of Alexander the Great in 323 b.c.e. Her grandfa-
ther Seleucus founded the Seleucid Empire,
encompassing Asia Minor and western Asia. Her
father was Achaeus, Seleucus's younger son. The
older son, Antiochus I, became ruler after her
grandfather's death. She married his son and her
cousin, Antiochus II. She had two sons, Seleucus
Callinicus and Antiochus Hierax, and two daugh-
ters, Stratonice and Laodice.
182
Laodice III
Her husband repudiated her in 252 b.c.e. to
marry Berenice Syra, the daughter of Ptolemy II
Philadelphus of Egypt. The match secured for him
the friendship of Ptolemy the return of previously
lost territories, and Berenice's dower wealth. He
named Berenice's son his heir. To appease Laodice,
Antiochus gave her estates near the cities of Baby-
lon and Borsippa. Laodice, who was very wealthy
even before her former husband's settlement,
moved herself and her children to Ephesus, which
became a second royal center. In time, Laodice
enticed Antiochus to Ephesus and persuaded him
to abandon Berenice. The elderly Antiochus died
in 246, possibly poisoned by Laodice, soon after
he had named her son his successor.
Laodice and Berenice fought to control the
empire. Berenice had supporters in Antioch and
some of the towns of Syria. She requested aid from
her father in Egypt. Laodice arranged to have Ber-
enice's son kidnapped. Berenice pursued the kid-
nappers on a chariot and killed one with a stone.
Faced with a hostile crowd, the kidnappers pro-
duced a child. Without relinquishing him, they
claimed he was the son of Berenice. Berenice with-
drew to a palace in Daphne, a suburb of Antioch,
with a guard of Galatian troops. Laodice, afraid of
the arrival of Egyptian forces, had her murdered
despite the efforts of Berenice's women retainers to
shield her with their bodies.
Ptolemy III Euergetes I, Berenice's brother, had
in the meantime succeeded their father in Egypt.
He arrived too late to save his sister, but the events
precipitated the Third Syrian War (246-41). At
this point, Laodice and her son moved their court
to Sardis away from the coast of Asia Minor. They
left Ephesus governed by Sophron, the lover of
Danae, Laodice's favorite woman retainer. For an
unknown reason, Laodice became disenchanted
with Sophron and summoned him to Sardis.
Danae warned him, and he succeeded in winning
enough time to escape. He offered himself to Ptol-
emy and became a commander in the Egyptian
fleet. Laodice killed Danae for her treachery.
Although Ptolemy made some important gains
in Asia Minor, Laodice and her son Seleucus II
successfully organized resistance to the invasion.
While Seleucus fought to regain his territories in
245 b.c.e., he left his brother Antiochus Hierax,
who was still a minor, in Sardis in Asia Minor.
When Seleucus requested reinforcements, Laodice,
who favored her younger son, had the troops sent
on condition that Hierax became the coruler of the
Seleucid Empire in Asia Minor.
Laodice's end is not recorded. Her two sons,
however, became so weakened by fighting each other
that they lost control of most of their territory.
Sources
Appian. Syrian Wars 65.
Athenaeus. Deipnosophistae 13.593c.
Justin. Epitome 27.
Pliny the Elder. Naturalis Historia 7.53.
Polyaenus. Strategemata 8.50.
Valerius Maximus. Factorum et dictorum memorabilium
libri 1X9.10.1.
Bevan, Edwyn B. The House of Selecus. 2 vols. London:
Edward Arnold, 1902, pp. 181 ff.
Cary, M. A History of the Greek World from 323 to 146
B.C. London: Methuen, 1951, pp. 86-88, 109, 369,
395-399.
Downey, Glanville. A History of Antioch in Syria fom Seleu-
cus to the Arab Conquest. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton
University Press, 1961, pp. 87ff.
Macurdy, Grace. Hellenistic Queens. Reprint. Chicago: Ares
Publishers, 1985, pp. 82-90.
Oxford Classical Dictionary, ed. by Simon Hornblower and
Antony Spawforth. 3d. ed. New York: Oxford Univer-
sity Press, 1996, p. 814.
Tarn, W. W. The Cambridge Ancient History 7. New York:
Cambridge University Press, p. 715ff.
(D Laodice III
(third-second century b.c.e.)
Persian: Asia Minor and Asia
philanthropist
Laodice III was generous and supported worthy
causes throughout the Seleucid Empire. Born the
daughter of Mithradates II, the king of Pontus in
northern Asia Minor, she was married with great
pomp and ceremony in 221 b.c.e. to Antioch III.
Her husband, a descendant of Seleucus I, who had
fought under Alexander the Great, reigned over
183
Lastheneia
territory from Anatolia, Syria, and Babylonia into
central Asia.
Laodice established dowries for the daughters of
the poor. After her husband conquered the city of
Caria in Asia Minor, she granted 10 years of corn
to its inhabitants at a fixed price, which prevented
profiteering. Her husband established a priesthood
in her honor, and civic cults honoring her were
founded in several cities. Her two sons were Seleu-
cus IV and Antiochus IV, and her daughter,
Cleopatra I (the Syrian), married Ptolemy V
Epiphanes of Egypt.
Sources
Polybius. Histories 5-43, 1—4.
Macurdy, Grace. Hellenistic Queens. Reprint. Chicago: Ares
Publishers, 1985, pp. 91-93.
Oxford Classical Dictionary, ed. by Simon Hornblower and
Antony Spawforth. 3d. ed. New York: Oxford Univer-
sity Press, 1996, pp. 814-815.
Pomeroy, Sarah B. Women in Hellenistic Egypt. New York:
Schocken, 1984, pp. 15-16.
Lastheneia
(fourth century b.c.e/
philosopher
Greek: Greece
Lastheneia came from the city of Mantinea in the
Peloponnese, the peninsula in southern Greece.
She studied philosophy with Plato and his succes-
sor, Speusippus, at the Academy in Athens. She
was reputed to have sometimes dressed like a
man.
Sources
Diogenes Laertius. Lives of the Eminent Philosophers 3.46.
Hawley, Richard. "The Problem of Women Philosophers
in Ancient Greece." In Women in Ancient Societies: An
Illusion of the Night, ed. by Leonie J. Archer, Susan
Fischler, and Maria Wyke. New York: Routledge, 1994,
pp. 74, 81-82.
Leaena
(sixth century b.c.e.)
brave woman
Greek: Athens
ancient Athenian clan, attempted to murder Hip-
pias, the tyrant of Athens, and his younger brother
Hipparchus. Harmodius and Hipparchus were
killed in the struggle. Hippias was unharmed, and
his guards seized Aristogeiton.
Hippias tortured Leaena, but she refused to
betray her lover. She died. Aristogeiton, also tor-
tured, was executed. A bronze lioness was later
erected in Leaena's honor at the entrance to the
Acropolis.
Sources
Pausanias. Description of Greece Ti A— 1.
Pliny the Elder. Naturalis Historia 7.23, 87.
Leontia
(c. 457 c.e.-?)
political actor
Roman: Constantinople
Leaena was the lover of Aristogeiton. In 514 b.c.e.
Aristogeiton and Harmodius, both members of an
Leontia was determined to become Augusta like
her mother, Verina, and sister, Ariadne. She was
the younger daughter of Verina and the emperor
Leo I, born sometime after her father became
emperor in 457. Briefly betrothed to another, she
married Marcian, whose father, Anthemius, had
been the Roman emperor in the West from 467 to
472. They had at least two daughters.
Leontia lived in the West while her family
engaged in an internecine struggle for the imperial
mantle. After her father died in 474, her sister and
her sister's husband, Zeno, came to the fore. Zeno,
who had been second in power under Leo, became
regent for his seven-year-old son, Leo II. The child
died within a year. Zeno assumed the title of
emperor and Ariadne became Augusta.
Verina was alive and living in the palace. She
loathed Zeno and plotted his downfall. She elic-
ited the support of her brother Basiliscus and, in
winter 475, Zeno fled with Ariadne and a goodly
part of the treasury to Isauria, whence he originally
had come and where he had allies and kin.
Verina's brother double-crossed her and became
emperor. Verina, ever inventive, plotted anew and
helped Zeno and Ariadne return to the city in
summer 476. Basiliscus and his wife and children
were killed. Verina still was not content. She
attempted to assassinate Illus, an earlier ally who
184
Licinia (2)
had become a general close to Zeno. She failed.
Illus demanded from Zeno that Verina be handed
over to him. He imprisoned her in a castle in
Isauria.
From her castle-prison in Isauria, Verina reached
out to Leontia and Marcian. Marcian had been
watching the situation in the East with covetous
eyes. Verina offered him an opportunity to inter-
fere and Leontia was the excuse. Toward the end of
479, Marcian laid claim to rule the East. Leontia,
he argued, had been born after her father Leo had
become emperor and thereby was a more legiti-
mate heir than Ariadne. He, not Zeno, ought to be
emperor. The populace, never any friend of Zeno,
rallied around Marcian, and he had almost cap-
tured Zeno when Illus arrived with an Isaurian
force and defeated him.
Leontia fled to the safety of a monastery and
Marcian became a priest. He was banished to Cap-
padocia. Marcian escaped and attacked Ancyra
(modern Ankara) but was defeated. Leontia and
Marcian were confined together in a fortress in
Isauria. Nothing more is heard of them.
Sources
John Malalas. Chronicle XIV, viii.
Theophanes. Chronicle AM 5971, 5972.
Bury, J. B. History of the Later Roman Empire from the
Death of Theodosius to the Death of Justinian. New York:
Dover Publications Inc., 1958.
Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire. Vol. II. Edited by
A. H. M. Jones, J. R. Martindale, and J. Morris. Cam-
bridge: Cambridge University Press, 1971. Reprinted
1992. p. 667.
Leontion
(fourth-third century b.c.e.)
philosopher
Greek: Athens
Leontion was a philosopher and companion of the
philosopher Epicurus at his school in Athens.
Leontion's philosophical writings rivaled those of
Theophrastus, the student, collaborator, and ulti-
mately successor to Aristotle. She and Metrodorus
(330-277 b.c.e.), another disciple of Epicurus,
became lovers. They had a son named after Epicu-
rus and a daughter, Danae.
In his will, Epicurus ordered his trustees to pro-
vide for the children's maintenance, to give Danae
a dowry, and when she came of age to find a mem-
ber of the Epicurean school for her to marry.
Sources
Athenaeus. Deipnosophistae 593c-d.
Diogenes Laertius. Lives of the Eminent Philosophers 10.19—
21,23.
Seneca. Epistulae 52.3.
Hawley Richard. "The Problem of Women Philosophers
in Ancient Greece." In Women in Ancient Societies: An
Illusion of the Night, ed. by Leonie J. Archer, Susan
Fischler, and Maria Wyke. New York: Routledge, 1994,
pp. 74, 80-81.
Pomeroy, Sarah B. Goddesses, Whores, Wives, and Slaves:
Women in Classical Antiquity. New York: Schocken
Books, 1975, p. 141.
(D Licinia (I)
(?— 154 b.c.e.) Roman: Rome
convicted murderer
Licinia and Publilia (i) were convicted in 154 b.
C.e. of poisoning their husbands, both of whom
were ex-consuls. Licinia's husband was Claudius
Asellus. Licinia assigned the property she owned to
the praetor as surety for her presence in the city
after she was charged. After her conviction, she
was turned over to her family and put to death.
Sources
Livy. From the Founding of the City 48.
Valerius Maximus. Factorum et dictorum memorahilium
libri 1X63,7.
Bauman, Richard A. Women and Politics in Ancient Rome.
London: Routledge, 1994, p. 39.
Pauly, A., G. Wissowa, and W. Kroll. Real-Encyclopadie
D. Classischen Altertumswissenschaft 1893— (Germany:
multiple publishers) 178.
(D Licinia (2)
(second century b.c.e.) Roman: Rome
reformer
Licinia was the elder daughter of Publius Licinius
Crassus Dives Mucianus, a wealthy expert in
Roman law, a noted orator, and consul in 131 b.
C.e. Her family was part of the circle around the
185
Licinia (3)
Gracchi that demanded tax and land reform. Her
sister Licinia (3) married Gaius Sempronius Grac-
chus, strengthening the families' political ties.
Licinia married quite young in 143 b.c.e. Her
husband was Gaius Sulpicius Galba, also a sup-
porter of the Gracchi. From 121 to 119 he served
on the land commission that Gaius Gracchus had
established at Carthage. In 1 10 he was condemned
for corruption during the Jugurthine War in
Numidia, North Africa. Nothing more is known
of Licinia.
Sources
Cicero. Brutus 82, 85-90.
Oxford Classical Dictionary, ed. by Simon Hornblower and
Antony Spawforth. 3d. ed. New York: Oxford Univer-
sity Press, 1996, p. 1,454.
Pauly, A., G. Wissowa, and W. Kroll. Real-Encyclopadie
D. Classischen Altertumswissenschaft 1893-. (Germany:
multiple publishers) 179.
Richardson, Keith. Daggers in the Forum: The Revolutionary
Lives and Violent Deaths of the Gracchus Brothers. Lon-
don: Cassell, 1976, pp. 41, 180.
Licinia (3)
(second century b.c.e.)
reformer
Roman: Rome
Licinia, the younger daughter of Publius Licinius
Crassus Dives Mucianus, a noted legal expert, ora-
tor, and consul in 131 b.c.e., participated in the
violent struggle for land and tax reform. Her fam-
ily was a political ally of the Gracchi, and her mar-
riage with Gaius Sempronius Gracchus had
probably been arranged since her childhood. Mar-
ried to him in 133 b.c.e., she brought to the union
a significant dowry from her wealthy family. She
had an older sister, Licinia (2).
Determined to carry forward the reforms of his
brother Tiberius, her husband was elected tribune
in 123 and 122. He passed a series of measures that
included land distribution, subsidies for wheat, the
establishment of new colonies for citizens, and
public works. The measures reflected efforts to
address the simultaneous problems of an increasing
class of landless citizens and the inflation that
accompanied their settling in the city. Opposition
to him and to the reforms he represented, however,
was strong. His proposal to grant citizenship to
people of Italy outside Rome was defeated, and he
lost the election for tribune in 121.
As his opponents moved to overturn the most
objectionable of the reforms, skirmish occurred in
which one person was killed. The Senate sum-
moned Gaius to the Forum. Licinia was fearful he
would be assassinated, as had been his brother
before him. Her fears were well founded: Gaius
was murdered in the Forum.
After Gaius's murder in 121, his enemies sought
to destroy his allies. They pursued Licinia through
attacks on her property. Her wealth was saved by
the efforts of her uncle the eminent jurist Publius
Mucius Scaevola. However, to recover her dowry,
her uncle was forced to publicly disavow her hus-
band and lay responsibility on him for the riot in
which he was killed.
Sources
Plutarch. Vitae Parallelae (Parallel Lives): Gaius Gracchus
21.1-2; 15.2,5; 17.5.
Pauly, A., G. Wissowa, and W. Kroll. Real-Encyclopadie
D. Classischen Altertumswissenschaft 1893— (Germany:
multiple publishers) 180.
Richardson, Keith. Daggers in the Forum: The Revolutionary
Lives and Violent Deaths of the Gracchus Brothers. Lon-
don: Cassell, 1976, pp. 114, 187-189.
Licinia (4)
(?-l 13 B.C.E.)
priestess
Roman: Rome
Licinia, Vestal Virgin and daughter of Gaius
Crassus, tribune in 145 b.c.e., challenged author-
ity. In 123 she dedicated an altar, oratory, and
sacred couch at the temple of the Bona Dea. The
praetor, Sextus Julius Caesar, protested that she had
no prior authorization to do such a thing. The Sen-
ate sent the case to the pontifices, who ruled the
donations unsanctified and ordered them removed.
In 1 14, a slave charged three Vestal Virgins with
illicit behavior. Aemilia (i) was accused of having
an affair with an equestrian, L. Veturius. Licinia
and Marcia (i) were said to have had relationships
at Aemilia's instigation with her lover's friends.
186
Licinia (7)
Aemilia was condemned, but the pontifex maximus
Lucius Caecilius Metellus found the two others
innocent. Then a special quaestio (investigation)
was called, over which Lucius Cassius Longinus
Ravilla presided. Licinias cousin Lucius Licinius
Crassus, an outstanding orator, defended them, but
to no avail. Both were condemned to death.
Sources
Cicero. Brutus 43.160.
Cicero. De domo sua 53.136.
Dio Cassius. Roman History 26.fr.87.
Livy. From the Founding of the City 43.
Orosius. Seven Books of History Against the Pagans 5.15,
20-22.
Plutarch. Moralia: De fortunata Romanorum 83.
Bauman, Richard A. Women and Politics in Ancient Rome.
London: Routledge, 1994, pp. 52 ff.
[a] Licinia (5)
(first century b.c.e.) Roman: Rome
elegant conversationalist
Licinia was noted for the elegance of her speech.
She was part of a family for whom conversation
was a practiced art. Her mother, Mucia, and her
grandmother Laelia had also been regarded as ele-
gant conversationalists. Her grandfather was the
famous orator Gaius Laelius, and she was the elder
daughter of Lucius Licinius Crassus, a well-known
orator and consul in 95 b.c.e.
Licinia married Publius Scipio Nasica, praetor
in 93. Her sister Licinia (6) married the son of the
general Gaius Marius. Cicero praised both women
for the beauty and precision of their conversation.
Sources
Cicero. Brutus 211—212.
Pauly, A., G. Wissowa, and W. Kroll. Real-Encyclopadie
D. Classischen Altertumswissenschaft 1893— (Germany:
multiple publishers) 183.
[a] Licinia (6)
(first century b.c.e.) Roman: Rome
elegant conversationalist
Licinia, the younger daughter of Mucia and the
famous orator Lucius Licinius Crassus, consul in
95 b.c.e., was born into a family whose members
were famous for their elegant conversation. Licinia
and her sister Licinia (5) were admired for their
speaking abilities. They both took after their
mother and grandmother Laelia.
Licinia married Gaius Marius, the son of the
great general Gaius Marius, consul seven times.
Her husband was offered the consulship of 82 after
his fathers death. His mother, Julia (i), urged him
to reject the office. She feared he was being used by
the Marians against the dictator Lucius Cornelius
Sulla. Her fears were well founded. After a defeat
by Sulla, he committed suicide.
Sources
Cicero. Epistulae ad Atticum 12.49.1.
Cicero. Brutus 21 1— 12.
Pauly, A., G. Wissowa, and W. Kroll. Real-Encyclopadie
D. Classischen Altertumswissenschaft 1893— (Germany:
multiple publishers) 184.
Licinia (7)
(first century b.c.e.)
priestess
Roman: Rome
Licinia, a Vestal Virgin and a member of the aristo-
cratic Licinii, was accused in 73 b.c.e. of immoral
behavior with her cousin Marcus Licinius Crassus.
Both were subsequently found innocent.
Crassus had spent time with Licinia in private
to persuade her to sell him a villa she owned in the
suburbs of Rome at a price less than its true value.
The immensely wealthy Crassus, who had made a
fortune buying property cheaply during the Sullan
proscriptions, was renowned for his eagerness to
acquire more. He eventually bought the land. The
attack on Licinia was probably led by Crassus's
enemies.
Sources
Plutarch. Vitae Parallelae (Parallel Lives): Crassus 1 AS.
Balsdon, J. P. V. D. Roman Women. New York: John Day
Comp., 1963, p. 239.
Pauly, A., G. Wissowa, and W Kroll. Real-Encyclopadie
D. Classischen Altertumswissenschaft 1893— (Germany:
multiple publishers) 185.
187
Livia
Livia
(?-92 B.C.E.)
political wife
Roman: Rome
Livia married twice, and each marriage produced a
child important in the history of the Roman revo-
lution. She was the daughter of Marcus Livius
Drusus, consul in 112 b.c.e. In 104, she married
Quintus Servilius Caepio, praetor in 91, and gave
birth to two daughters, Servilia (i), who became
the lover and friend of Julius Caesar, and Servilia
(2), and a son, Gnaeus Servilius Caepio. Divorced
around 98 b.c.e. because of a quarrel between her
brother and her husband, she married Marcus Por-
cius Cato in 96. They had a daughter, Porcia, and a
son, Marcus Porcius Cato Uticensis, who became
one of the republican leaders against Caesar. Livias
second husband died just before the wars in Italy,
and she died shortly thereafter in 92 b.c.e.
Sources
Oxford Classical Dictionary, ed. by Simon Hornblower and
Antony Spawforth. 3d. ed. New York: Oxford Univer-
sity Press, 1996, p. 1,394.
Pauly, A., G. Wissowa, and W. Kroll. Real-Encyclopadie
D. Classischen Altertumswissenschaft 1893-. (Germany:
multiple publishers) 35.
Syme, Ronald. The Augustan Aristocracy. Oxford: Claren-
don Press, 1986, p. 25.
[b] Livia Drusilla
(January 30, 58 b.c.e-29 c.e.)
Roman: Italy
power broker
Livia was the most important woman of her time.
Her character, discretion, and intellect comple-
mented her strategic skills and were enhanced by
the advantage of a long life. She spanned the period
before the onset of civil war, through the reign of
her husband Augustus and much of that of her son
Tiberius. In her household were nurtured many of
the enmities and alliances that shaped the first 50
years of the empire, and her travels and correspon-
dence with friends and clients spread her reach
across the Roman world. Her reception rooms
were always filled with visitors and petitioners. Her
household, which sometimes encompassed 1,000
people or more, included multiple generations of
children, grandchildren, nieces and nephews, more
distant kin and clients of the extended Julio-Clau-
dian families.
Born on January 30, 58 b.c.e., she was the
daughter of Marcus Livius Drusus Claudianus,
from the illustrius Claudian clan, and Alfidia, the
daughter of a rich councillor from the Italian city
of Fundi. Livias father lived well into the years of
the civil war and fought against Mark Antony and
Octavian. He killed himself after the defeat of
Marcus Brutus and Gaius Cassius at Philippi in
42 B.C.E.
Livia married twice. Her first husband, whom
she married at the age of 15 or 16, in 43 or 42
b.c.e., was Tiberius Claudius Nero, quaestor in 48
and a distant relative. She gave birth on November
16, 42 b.c.e. to Tiberius, the future emperor. Her
husband's political allegiance followed a not-too-
unusual course for the times. A republican and a
supporter of Caesar, he commanded Caesars fleet
in the Alexandrian War in 47 b.c.e. After Caesar's
death, however, he called for special honors for the
assassins. In 41, he sided with Antony against
Octavian. In 40, as part of the Perusine war, he
attempted to ignite a slave revolt in Campania.
When the war failed, he fled from Rome and
Octavian with Livia and their infant son. In Sicily
he joined the friendly Sextus Pompeius. After a
falling-out with Pompeius, he rejoined Antony in
Achaea. He, along with Livia and their young son,
returned to Rome in 39 after the Pact of Misenum
secured peace under the Second Triumvirate. In
that same year, Livia became pregnant with her
second child.
She also began an affair with Octavian. How it
started remains unclear. That it quickly became
notorius, however, is well attested. In a society reel-
ing with the social dislocations of civil war, it was
still a flagrant violation of tradition for the preg-
nant Livia to live openly with Octavian while both
were divorcing their respective spouses. Octavian
divorced Scribonia on the day she gave birth to
his only child, Julia (6). He sought an opinion
from the college of pontifices about contracting a
188
Livia Drusilla
marriage with the still-pregnant Livia. They ruled
in his favor. Perhaps there was little else they could
do except to accept the new marriage but to estab-
lish that Tiberius Claudius Nero was the legitimate
father of the unborn child. Gossip about the
behavior of both Octavian and Livia reached epic
proportions. On January 28, 38 b.c.e. Livia's first
husband presided over the wedding feast.
After the birth of Livia's second son, Nero
Claudius Drusus, both boys went to live with their
father to avoid further scandal. Shortly thereafter,
their father died and left Octavian guardian. The
boys moved back into Livia's household. The three
months between the birth, death, and the return of
the boys to their mother kept tongues wagging.
Again in 36 during a food shortage in Rome, the
couple caused scandalous gossip when they taste-
lessly hosted a banquet for the gods. Subsequently
they changed their image: Livia adopted a modest
persona and her unconventional move from one
husband to another faded into history while Octa-
vian's future sexual exploits never exceeded what
was considered acceptable among the aristocracy.
The two became a model Roman husband and
wife and remained married for 50 years, until the
death of the emperor in 14 c.e. Over the course of
the next decades the memory of their union's noto-
rious beginning so faded that years later, when
Augustus meted out harsh punishments to his
daughter and granddaughter for their adulterous
behavior, nary an eyebrow was raised in remem-
brance of the past.
After their marriage, even before Octavian
became Augustus, Livia's elevated status was clear.
In 35 b.c.e., Livia and Octavian's independent-
minded sister Octavia (2) were accorded the sta-
tus of tribunica sanctissima, which made any assault
upon their person as if an attack on the state.
Never previously held by a woman nor ever again,
it was probably Octavian's intention to protect
Octavia from her husband Antony, and it would
not have been politic to exclude Livia. The office
also gave the women independent authority over
property and wealth. Then in 18 and 9 b.c.e., with
the passage of the Julian laws, which Livia sup-
ported, she was granted rights that released her
from any form of even token male guardianship.
In one of those ironies of history, had those same
laws been in effect at the onset of their affair, both
Livia and Octavian would have been sent into exile
on different islands for adultery and much of their
wealth confiscated. Moreover, instead of hosting
their wedding, her first husband could have been
prosecuted for pandering. No less ironic, these
same laws were the basis for Augustus's later exile
of his daughter and granddaughter.
A wealthy woman to begin with, Livia managed
people and property well. Her alliances with other
women, many of whom were also influential in the
public and private affairs of the period, constituted
a circle within which she did business and traded
favors. Some were her peers, like her sister-in-law
Octavia. Some were clients from abroad like
Salome, the sister of Herod the Great, who
bequeathed to Livia the towns of Jamnia, Phasae-
lis, and Archelais. Still others were well-born
women who sought her influence. She was instru-
mental in having the son of her close friend Urgu-
lania made consul in 2 b.c.e. She probably had a
hand in the marriage of the future emperor
Claudius to Plautia Urgulanilla, granddaugh-
ter of Urgulania. In 16 c.e., when the senator
Lucius Piso obtained a summons against Urgula-
nia for money owed him and Urgulania refused to
pay, it was to Livia's house she went and put herself
under her friend's protection.
Livia invited into her house her extended family
and clients from abroad. In addition to her own
children, Tiberius and Drusus, there were Augus-
tus's daughter Julia and Julia's chidren — twin sons,
Gaius Caesar and Lucius Caesar, and two daugh-
ters, Julia (7) and the elder Vipsania Agrippina.
After Livia's youngest son, Drusus, died in 9 b.c.e.,
her daughter-in-law, the younger Antonia and her
three children, Germanicus, Claudius, and Livia
Julia Livilla Claudia, moved into the household.
Gaius Caligula and two of his sisters, Julia
Drusilla and Julia Livilla, also lived with Livia
for a short time after their mother, the elder Agrip-
pina, was exiled. Marcus Salvius Otho, grandfather
of the later emperor Otho, was yet another later
political figure who grew up in Livia's household.
189
Livia Drusilla
Livia and Augustus's relationship joined both
family and the affairs of state, and sometimes the
two were indistinguishable. The events and
arrangements in which she was central ranged from
macro state decisions to micro private affairs.
Augustus regularly asked her advice. Often he took
it. After a plot was uncovered against him led by
Gnaeus Cornelius, a descendant of Pompey the
Great, she argued that he could coop the conspira-
tors. It was Livia who persuaded Augustus and
Tiberius to implement the arrangements for
Claudius, the future emperor who was afflicted
with some kind of palsy. In addition there was a
steady stream of senators and other officials who
came to consult and curry favor. Livia arranged for
Marcus Salvius Otho to be made a senator. When
Quintus Haterius, whose remarks offended the
emperor and who had accidentally knocked down
Tiberius, came to apologize, Livia saved him from
being executed. She sometimes went beyond the
bounds of Augustus's decisions. During his daugh-
ter Julia's 20 years of exile she helped Julia.
In all Livia worked unceasingly, especially, to
enhance the interests of her family and particularly
the future of her own sons. Although Augustus
had adopted her children, she faced arrogant oppo-
sition from Augustus's Julian relatives who felt
their family without peer, and succession to Augus-
tus their birthright. Along with Livia, Octavia and
Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa completed Augustus's
most intimate circle. Her sister-in-law Octavia,
whose household rivaled Livia's in its size and influ-
ence, had married her daughter the elder Mar-
cella to Agrippa. The links by marriage were
further extended through the marriage in 25 b.c.e.
of Octavia's son Marcus Claudius Marcellus and
Julia, Augustus's daughter.
Succession seemed assured with Agrippa as
regent should anything happen too soon for the
next generation to assume control. Barely two years
later, in 23, Marcellus, the most likely heir, died.
Agrippa then divorced Marcella and married Julia,
and they had three sons in rapid succession: Lucius
Caesar, Gaius Caesar, and Agrippa Postumus, all of
them possible heirs to Augustus. Once more the
line of succession seemed secure. Years earlier, Livia
and Titus Pomponius Atticus, the very wealthy
father-in-law of Agrippa's first wife Caecilia Attica,
had arranged for the marriage of Livia's son Tiberius
with Attica and Agrippa's daughter Vipsania
Agrippina. They married in 20 or 19 b.c.e. At the
time it appeared a desirous union. All during the
civil war years there were problems with money,
and Atticus had enormous wealth. Agrippa was in
his prime, and clearly a family link between Livia
and Agrippa could only be advantageous in
strengthening both of their positions in the inti-
mate circle around Augustus.
Agrippa died unexpectedly in 12 b.c.e. The
three sons born of his second marriage with Julia
were adopted by Augustus. The line of succession
through the Julians still appeared in place. How-
ever, marriage to Julia appeared to be the way to
succession, so Tiberius divorced Vipsania and mar-
ried his stepsister Julia in 1 1 b.c.e. It seems likely
that Livia and Augustus had both agreed to the
arrangement, even though it was said that Augus-
tus favored Livia's younger son, Nero Claudius
Drusus. In 9 b.c.e. the younger son died from an
infection after a fall off his horse.
Livia had successfully used unexpected deaths
in the Julian family to place Tiberius in the most
advantageous position for succession as regent over
her husband's young grandsons, if not as emperor.
In 6 b.c.e. Augustus granted Tiberius tribunicia
potestas (powers of a tribune) for five years and
asked him to go to the East on a diplomatic mis-
sion. Tiberius, however, had his own views and was
not necessarily amenable to the plans of his mother
and adoptive father.
Much to Livia's consternation and Augustus's
anger, Tiberius insisted that he be allowed to retire
to the island of Rhodes. For four days he refused
food, and threatened to kill himself if they failed to
agree. They agreed, and he left Rome. He walked
away from his parents, his wife, and an empire.
Tiberius's behavior was outside the bounds of
acceptability. In 2 b.c.e., he changed his mind and
asked to return to Rome. Augustus refused. Livia
persuaded him to appoint Tiberius legate to
Rhodes in an attempt to paint over his own invol-
untary stay on the island. It was, however, another
190
Livia Drusilla
four years, in 2 c.e., before she finally secured
Augustus's agreement for Tiberius to return to
Rome.
Fate took a hand. In the same year, the cher-
ished grandson of Augustus, Lucius Caesar, died
on his way to Spain. A second grandson, Gaius,
was wounded and died two years later in 4 c.e.
Augustus banished the third grandson, Agrippa
Postumus, in the same year. Although a fine physi-
cal specimen, his cruelty and ungovernable temper
made him clearly unfit to rule. Tiberius alone
remained among the possible successors.
Livias good fortune in her son Tiberius did not
pass unnoticed among the elite whose lives were
lived in the arena of imperial power. Rumors
abounded that Livia was responsible for the deaths
of the grandsons and later, even for the death of
her partner and husband, Augustus. Augustus fell
gravely ill during August 14 c.e. in Nola some 20
miles east of Naples. Livia sent an urgent message
to Tiberius, who was on his way to Illyricum (the
Balkans), to come to Nola. In the meantime, Livia
admitted only a trusted few to Augustus's side.
Optimistic bulletins were issued. It is not clear
whether Tiberius arrived before or after Augustus's
death, but only after his arrival was public notice
given that Augustus was dead. His death occurred
on August 19, just shy of his 76th birthday. Livias
son and Augustus's adopted son, Tiberius, was
named successor.
Agrippa Postumus, the difficult grandson in
exile on the island of Planasia, was immediately
put to death. It is not known whether Augustus
had given prior orders to his close adviser, Gaius
Sullustius Crispus, or whether Livia had issued
orders for the execution under Augustus's name.
Tiberius knew nothing about the execution and
decided that the Senate should look into it, but
Crispus and Livia persuaded him to drop the mat-
ter. In her husband's will, Livia was named Julia
Augusta and was adopted into the Julian gens. She
was granted exemption from the lex Voconia, which
limited women's rights to inheritance. Augustus
left her one-third of his estate, and her son,
Tiberius, two-thirds. She also became the priestess
of her husband's cult after his deification.
Livia had succeeded. She had lived to see her
son succeed her husband, and he, anxious perhaps
to demonstrate his independence from a mother
who had herself become symbolic of the new impe-
rial Rome, was embarrassed by the role she played.
Livia assiduously coveted honors that Tiberius
foiled. He refused to allow an altar to celebrate her
adoption into the Julian clan. Members of the Sen-
ate proposed a number of possible titles for Livia,
such as parens patriae (Parent of her Country) or
mater patriae (Mother of her Country). Others
wanted to add Iuliae filius (Son of Julia [Augusta])
to Tiberius's name. Tiberius claimed history had
no such honors for women and added that he
would also refuse similarly nontraditional honors
for himself. He also refused requests that she be
granted lictores, the traditional attendants who car-
ried fasces, symbols of the legitimacy and inviola-
bility of Roman magistrates.
In public Tiberius and Livia maintained correct
relations. Gossip circulated, however, that their
private relations were more difficulty. Tiberius
retired to Capri. Livia remained in Rome. In the
next three years, he only visited her once and then
only for a few hours. Still, her influence remained
significant. She intervened and brought about the
acquittal of her friend Munatia Plancina, who,
along with her husband Gnaeus Calpurnius Piso,
had been accused of treason after the death of Ger-
manicus Julius Caesar, husband of the elder Agrip-
pina. She also was responsible for advancing the
career of Gaius Fufius Geminus, consul in 29 c.e.
and the husband of her friend Mutilia Prisca, in
spite of Tiberius dislike for him. After Livias death
the two women and Fufius were forced to commit
suicide.
Livia died in 29 at the age of 86. Tiberius did
not attend her funeral and would not allow her to
be deified. He also refused to execute her will in
which her largest bequest was to the future emperor
Galba, whom she had befriended. Her reach into
the future, however, was long. Her eulogy was
delivered by her grandson and future emperor, the
young Gaius Caligula, who had lived for a short
time in his grandmother's house. He called her
Ulixes stolatus, "Ulysses in skirts." When he became
191
Livia Ocellina
emperor, he executed her will, and when Claudius,
who also had lived in her household, became
emperor, he deified her.
Sources
Dio Cassius. Roman History 48.15 .3-4, 34.3, 44; 49.38.1;
53.33.4; 54.19.3-4; 55.2.5-6, 10a, 10, 14, 1 seq.,
32.1-2; 56.30.5-32.1-2, 46.1-3, 47.1; 57.3, 5-6;
57.12; 58.2.1-6; 59.2.3; 60.5.2.
Suetonius. The Lives of the Caesars: Augustus 62.2; 63.1;
84.2; 101.2.
. The Lives of the Caesars: Gaius Caligula 10.1; 16.3;
23.2.
. The Lives of the Caesars: Claudius 1.1; 4; 11.2.
. The Lives of the Caesars: Galba 5.2
. The Lives of the Caesars: Tiberius 4.3; 6.1—3; 10.2;
12.1; 13.2; 50.2-3; 51.
Tacitus. Annates 1.3-7, 8, 10, 13-14, 33; 2.14, 34, 43, 77,
82; 3.15, 17, 34, 64, 71; 4.8, 12, 16, 21-22, 57, 71;
5.13; 6.5, 26, 29; 12.69.
Barrett, Anthony. Livia: First Lady of Lmperial Rome. New
Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 2002.
Bauman, Richard A. Women and Politics in Ancient Rome.
London: Routledge, 1994, index.
Levick, Barbara. Tiberius the Politician. London: Thames
and Hudson, 1976, index.
Marsh, Frank Burr. The Reign ofTiherius. New York: Barnes
and Noble, 1931, index.
Oxford Classical Dictionary, ed. by Simon Hornblower and
Antony Spawforth. 3d. ed. New York: Oxford Univer-
sity Press, 1996, p. 876.
Pauly, A., G. Wissowa, and W. Kroll. Real-Encyclopadie
D. Classischen Altertumswissenschaft 1893-. (Germany:
multiple publishers) 37.
Syme, Ronald. The Augustan Aristocracy. Oxford: Claren-
don Press, 1986, index.
. The Roman Revolution. London: Oxford Univer-
sity Press, 1963, index.
[b] Livia Ocellina
(first century c.e.)
political player
Roman: Rome
Livia Ocellina, a wealthy and beautiful woman,
married Gaius Sulpicius Galba, consul sufFectus in
5 b.c.e. She ignored his short stature and hunch-
back: After he removed his robe and displayed his
body so that she should have no illusions about
him, she was said to be even more anxious for the
Her husband had previously been married to
Mummia Achaica, the mother of his two chil-
dren, Gaius and Servius Sulpicius Galba. Livia
Ocellina adopted Servius, who took her name and
the surname Ocella. Her adopted son grew up to
become a favorite of both Augustus and Tiberius.
He ruled for a short while during the troubled year
of the four emperors then was assassinated in Janu-
ary 69 c.e.
Sources
Suetonius. The Lives of the Caesars: Galba 3.4; 5.1.
Livia Orestilla
(first century c.e.)
political victim
Roman: Rome
Livia Orestilla suffered the consequences of her
beauty. She attracted the attention of the emperor
Gaius Caligula when she was the wife of the hand-
some, popular Gaius Calpurnius Piso, a member
of a prominent family and an excellent orator. Cal-
igula attended their wedding in 37 c.e., and the
sources report that he had the bride taken to his
own home. The next day he announced that he
had taken a wife in the ancient way. The relation-
ship ended within two months.
In 40, Caligula accused the reunited Livia and
Piso of adultery and exiled them. Although there is
no further mention of Livia, Piso returned to
Rome during the reign of the emperor Claudius.
Sources
Dio Cassius. Roman History 59.8.7—8.
Suetonius. The Lives of the Caesars: Gaius Caligula 25.1.
Ferrill, A. Caligula: Emperor of Rome. London: Thames and
Hudson, 1991, p. 108.
Pauly, A., G. Wissowa, and W. Kroll. Real-Encyclopadie
D. Classischen Altertumswissenschaft 1893— (Germany:
multiple publishers) 42.
[b] Livilla, Livia Julia Claudia
(c. 13 b.c.e.-31 c.e.) Roman: Rome
conspirator
Livilla, sometimes called Livia Julia, died in the
struggle to secure succession of her son. Twice wid-
owed by men who were the emperor Tiberius's
192
Livilla, Livia Julia Claudia
likely successors, she was the daughter of the
younger Antonia and Tiberius's brother Nero
Claudius Drusus, consul in 9 b.c.e. Born in 13 b.
c.e., her great-uncle was the emperor Augustus.
One grandmother was the independent-minded
Octavia (2), Augustus's sister, and the other, Livia
Drusilla, his wife.
After her father's death in 9, she lived with her
mother and brothers in her grandmother Livia's
household. In 1 b.c.e. she married Gaius Julius
Caesar, the oldest grandson of Augustus, who also
had spent part of his youth in Livia's household.
Gaius died of battle wounds in 4 c.e. Livilla remar-
ried. Her second husband was Drusus Julius Cae-
sar, the son of Tiberius. The marriage, which united
the Julian and Claudian family lines, provided her
husband with a privileged position for succession.
Livilla and Drusus had a daughter, Julia (8),
and years later twin sons, Germanicus and Tiberius
Gemellus, born in 19 c.e. Despite her husband's
vicious personality and dissolute lifestyle, Livilla
expected him to succeed his 65-year-old father.
Drusus, however, died in 23 c.e. In the same year
one of the twins, Germanicus, also died, leaving
Livilla with a grown daughter and a young son —
and the issue of succession to Tiberius again
unsettled.
Livilla set about to protect her own interests
and especially those of her son. Two women
opposed her: Her mother, Antonia, sided with Liv-
illa's sister-in-law Agrippina in promoting Gaius
Caligula, Agrippina's youngest son, as successor.
Although Antonia was well regarded, Tiberius had
no love for Agrippina, who was convinced that
Tiberius had murdered her husband Germanicus,
despite the absence of clear evidence. Devoted to
the interest of her children and fearful of Agrip-
pina, Livilla allied herself with Lucius Aelius Seja-
nus, prefect of the Praetorian Guard in Rome.
Tiberius was a military man who had never liked
the urban life of Rome. He may also have been
tired of dynastic infighting, possibly distressed at
his increasingly displeasing appearance, and ready
to enjoy other pursuits. He retired to Capri in 26
c.e. and left Sejanus as his eyes and ears in the
capital.
Livilla and Sejanus had good reason to join
forces. Sejanus could not aspire to the position of
emperor — it would be some decades more before a
man born outside the charmed circle of the elite
could rule. Livilla offered Sejanus the link with the
imperial family that only birth could secure. While
Tiberius did not view him as a threat, Sejanus
already had control over the Praetorian Guard and
unique access to the emperor. If not emperor, he
could possibly aspire to become regent for the
young Tiberius Gemellus, provided the way was
clear of other contenders.
In 20 c.e. Livilla's daughter, Julia, had married
Nero Julius Caesar, the eldest surviving son of her
sister-in-law Agrippina. In 23 c.e., with the death
of Livilla's husband, her grown son-in-law was a
more likely successor than her still young child.
Already quaestor, probably in 26, Nero was intem-
perate, made rash statements, and openly staked
his claim to the empire. Whether with conscious
intent to harm or simply the loose tongue of a
lover, Livilla passed on to Sejanus information
from conversations with her daughter about Nero,
whom both mother and daughter disliked.
Sejanus convinced Tiberius that Nero and his
mother, Agrippina, were conspiring against the
emperor. Tiberius exiled them both. Deported in
29, Nero was executed in 3 1 . Drusus Julius Caesar,
Nero's brother and a second son of Agrippina, sup-
ported Sejanus's accusation. While Drusus's posi-
tion had been enhanced with the banishment of
his brother, it proved a short-lived advantage. Only
a year later, he too was imprisoned.
Gaius Caligula, the remaining son of Agrip-
pina, and Gemellus, the young son of Livilla, were
now the two most probable heirs of Tiberius. Cal-
igula was more favorably positioned since he was
much older. In 30, however, Sejanus appears to
have gained Tiberius's consent for his marriage. It
is possible that the planned marriage was not with
Livilla, who was about 43 years old, but with her
widowed daughter Julia, now around 25. In any
case, through either of the unions, he would have
moved closer to the imperial family and perhaps
Livilla's son would also have moved closer to
becoming the heir.
193
Lollia Paulina
Good fortune ended abruptly; Livilla's down-
fall followed that of Sejanus. Possibly Caligula
convinced Livilla's mother, Antonia, that Sejanus
was engaged in a conspiracy. Surely not a conspir-
acy aimed directly against Tiberius, since the lat-
ter's immediate death would only have endangered
Sejanus's own position. Most likely it was a con-
spiracy aimed at Caligula, who was the last
impediment to the son of Livilla. It remains
unclear why Antonia supported Caligula when
she must have been aware that the downfall of
Sejanus would also bring down her daughter and
probably her granddaughter Julia and her grand-
son Gemellus. Whatever the reasons, she informed
Tiberius, and Sejanus was killed, as were his two
children. Apicata, the divorced wife of Sejanus,
killed herself two days after Sejanus's execution
and left a letter for Tiberius in which she accused
Sejanus and Livilla of eight years earlier having
poisoned Drusus, Livilla's husband and Tiberius 's
son.
The slaves and attendants of Livilla and Sejanus
were tortured. Their "confessions" allowed Tiberius
to declare that Sejanus and Livilla had engaged in a
conspiracy against the children of Agrippina and
Germanicus. After Tiberius heard the case, Livilla
was turned over to the custody of her mother,
Antonia. She starved herself to death.
Sources
Dio Cassius. Roman History 57.22.1-2; 58.11.6-7.
Suetonius. The Lives of the Caesars: Tiberius 62.1.
Tacitus. Annates 2.43, 84; 4.3, 12, 39-40, 60.
Bauman, Richard A. Women and Politics in Ancient Rome.
London: Routledge, 1994, p. 147.
Levick, Barbara. Tiberius the Politician. London: Thames
and Hudson, 1976, index.
Marsh, Frank Burr. The Reign ofTiberius. New York: Barnes
and Noble, 1 93 1 , index.
Oxford Classical Dictionary, ed. by Simon Hornblower and
Antony Spawforth. 3d. ed. New York: Oxford Univer-
sity Press, 1996, p. 876.
Pauly, A., G. Wissowa, and W. Kroll. ReaTEncyclopadie
D. Classischen Altertumswissenschafi 1893— (Germany:
multiple publishers) 38.
Syme, Ronald. The Augustan Aristocracy. Oxford: Claren-
don Press, 1986, index.
Lollia Paulina
(first century C.E.)
political player
Roman: Italy
Lollia Paulina was rich, smart, and beautiful. All
three attributes shaped her life. Her father possibly
was consul suffectus in 13 C.E., although the fam-
ily enmity with Tiberius leaves his career open to
question. Her mother was Volusia, also of a con-
sular family. Lollia inherited enormous wealth
from her grandfather Marcus Lollius, consul in 2 1
b.c.e., who made the family fortune in spoils from
the provinces.
The emperor Caligula was determined to marry
Lollia. Her husband, Memmius Regulus, consul in
3 1 c.e. was in Greece as governor of Moesia and
was agreeable to a divorce. She and Caligula mar-
ried in 38. Lollia had emeralds and pearls of enor-
mous value and beautifully worked to cover her
head, hair, ears, neck, and fingers. She adorned the
emperor with her beauty and her jewels, but her
wealth and beauty were not sufficient. Caligula
divorced her a year later in 39 and forbade her to
remarry.
Ten years later, in 48, Lollia was again in the
running to become the wife of an emperor. This
time it was Claudius. She was supported by Gaius
Julius Callistus, one of the influential freedmen of
the emperor, on the grounds that she was childless,
would remain so, and was therefore a possible step-
mother for Claudius's offspring free of any com-
peting claims.
The younger agrippina's success over Lollia in
the competition for Claudius apparently did not
sufficiently eliminate the threat Agrippina felt
she posed. Moreover, she wanted Lollia's prop-
erty and jewels. Agrippina charged her with con-
sulting astrologers. Claudius condemned Lollia
without a hearing. She was stripped of her vast
wealth, except for 5 million sesterces to enable
her to live, and was banished in 49 c.e. Agrip-
pina sent a tribune to force Lollia to suicide. As a
rebuke to his mother, Agrippina's son, the next
emperor Nero, allowed Lollia Paulina's ashes to
be brought back to Rome and erected a tomb to
house her remains.
194
Lucilla, Annia Aurelia Galeria
Sources
Dio Cassius. Roman History 59.12.1, 23.7; 61.32.4.
Pliny the Elder. Naturalis Historia 9.57, 1 17-19.
Suetonius. The Lives of the Caesars: Gaius Caligula 25.
Tacitus. Annates 12.1-2; 14.12.
Bauman, Richard A. Women and Politics in Ancient Rome.
London: Routledge, 1994, pp. 181-182.
Levick, Barbara. Claudius: The Corruption of Power. New
Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 1993, pp. 70-71.
Oxford Classical Dictionary, ed. by Simon Hornblower and
Antony Spawforth. 3d. ed. New York: Oxford Univer-
sity Press, 1996, p. 883.
Pauly, A., G. Wissowa, and W. Kroll. Real-Encyclopadie
D. Classischen Altertumswissenschafl 1893— (Germany:
multiple publishers) 30.
Syme, Ronald. The Augustan Aristocracy. Oxford: Claren-
don Press, 1986, index.
[a] Lucilia
(second— first century b.c.e.) Roman: Rome
mother ofGnaeus Pompeius (Pompey the Great)
Lucilia came from a rich aristocratic family. Her
father was a senator, and her uncle Gaius Lucilius,
a famous poet and satirist. She married Gnaeus
Pompeius Strabo, consul in 89 b.c.e. He was a suc-
cessful general but had a reputation for cruelty and
corruption. He died in an epidemic, and his body
was dragged through the streets by the people, who
hated him. He and Lucilia had a son, Gnaeus
Pompeius (Pompey the Great).
Sources
Valleius Paterculus. Historiae Romanae lihri II 2,29.1 ff.
Syme, Ronald. The Roman Revolution. London: Oxford
University Press, 1963, p. 28.
[b] Lucilia, Annia Aurelia Galeria
(148-182 c.e.)
Roman: Asia, Africa, Germany, and Rome
Augusta
Annia Aurelia Galeria Lucilla, the daughter of the
emperor Marcus Aurelius, organized an unsuc-
cessful conspiracy against her brother, the emperor
Commodus. She was born in 148 c.e., the daugh-
ter of the younger Annia Galeria Faustina and
Marcus Aurelius. Had she been born a son rather
than a daughter, she may well have been a worthy
successor to her father. Her father became
emperor in 161, succeeding Antoninus Pius. In
164 her father arranged her marriage with Lucius
Verus, whom he had made co-emperor in 161.
The marriage took place in Ephesus, and she was
given the title Augusta. She was some 18 years
younger then her weak and ineffectual husband
who died in 169 on his way back to Rome from
the Danube.
Against her will and the wishes of Faustina,
Marcus Aurelius immediately had Lucilla marry
the much older Tiberius Claudius Pompeianus, a
native of Antioch. She was 21, and he was proba-
bly over 50. Her new husband was her father's
trusted friend and had been a commander in all of
his campaigns. His father had been prefect of
Egypt, and the family was descended from rulers
in the East. Lucilla undoubtedly considered the
marriage beneath her and detested the sedentary
country life that suited her ailing husband.
Marcus Aurelius died in 180, and was succeeded
his son Commodus, whom he had appointed joint
ruler in 177. Commodus treated his sister Lucilla
Annia Aurelia Galeria Lucilla
(Date: 164 C.E.-/69 C.E. 1959.228.28, Archives,
American Numismatic Society)
195
Lucretia
respectfully. She sat on the imperial seat at the the-
ater and retained other privileges. However, she
hated her sister-in-law, Crispina Bruttia, and rec-
ognized her brothers limitations. In 182 Lucilla
had uncovered sufficient discontent with her broth-
er's rule to organize a conspiracy for his overthrow.
Members of the group included her cousin Ummid-
ius Quadratus; Paternus, who was head of the
imperial guard; and, Claudius Pompeianus Quin-
tianus, who was to do the actual stabbing. Pom-
peianus turned out to be an inept murderer. He was
arrested while announcing to Commodus his inten-
tion to stab him. Lucilla was banished to Capri and
soon afterward killed. Her son, Claudius Pompeia-
nus, was later murdered by the emperor Caracalla.
Sources
Dio Cassius. Roman History 71.1, 3; 73.4.4—5.
Herodian. History of the Empire 1.8.3—6, 8; 4.6.3.
Scriptores Historiae Augustae. Commodus 4.1, 4; 5.7.
. Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (Marcus Aurelius)
7.7; 9.4; 20.6.-7.6.
Balsdon, J. P. V. D. Roman Women. New York: John Day
Comp., 1963, index.
Oxford Classical Dictionary, ed. by Simon Hornblower and
Antony Spawforth. 3d. ed. New York: Oxford Univer-
sity Press, 1996, p. 99.
Pauly, A., G. Wissowa, and W. Kroll. Real-Encyclopadie
D. Classischen Altertumswissenschaft 1893-. (Germany:
multiple publishers) 123.
Lucretia
(sixth century b.c.e.)
heroine
Roman: Rome
Lucretia was a Roman heroine from the early years
of the city-state when myth and history were inex-
orably intertwined. She was the wife of Lucius Tar-
quinius Collatinus. As the story goes, her husband
was present at a dinner in which the men boasted
about the virtue of their wives. Among them was
Sextus, the son of Tarquinius Superbus, the last
king of Rome. After Tarquinius Collatinus claimed
no other wife could compare with his, the men
agreed to go together to each of their houses to see
what the women were doing. The wives were all
found to be socializing until they came to Lucre-
tia's residence. She was busily engaged in working
with wool, and her servants were busy doing useful
tasks, all signs of a virtuous Roman matron. The
men agreed that she was the winner.
Sextus returned a few days later while Lucretia's
husband was away. He raped her after she refused
his advances. Afterward he demanded her silence
by threatening to ruin her reputation. He prom-
ised he would kill her and place a naked dead slave
in bed by her side.
Lucretia summoned her husband, her father,
and her uncle Lucius Junius Brutus. She told them
that her heart was pure, but her body had been
desecrated. She made them swear that they would
avenge her. Lucretia then stabbed herself and set
an example for all future women of Rome.
According to Roman tradition, Tarquinius Col-
latius and Junius Brutus led a revolution in 510
b.c.e. that established the Roman republic. They
became the first consuls. While the story may be
apocryphal, Lucretia was revered, and Romans
credited her for the end of the monarchy and the
creation of the republic.
Sources
Livy. From the Founding of the City 1.57.6—11, 58—60.
Oxford Classical Dictionary, ed. by Simon Hornblower and
Antony Spawforth. 3d. ed. New York: Oxford Univer-
sity Press, 1996, p. 888.
Pomeroy, Sarah B. Goddesses, Whores, Wives, and Slaves:
Women in Classical Antiquity. New York: Schocken
Books, 1975, pp. 160-161.
[b] Lysandra
(fourth-third century b.c.e.)
Greek: Egypt, Macedonia, and Syria
power broker
Lysandra was a fighting woman. She was the
daughter of two Macedonian rulers of Egypt,
Eurydice (3) and Ptolemy I Soter. In 298 b.c.e.
her father-in-law, Cassander I, ruler of Macedonia,
died, and her sister-in-law Thessalonice became
regent. She divided rule between Alexander V, her
younger favored son, and his brother Antipater.
Lysandra married Alexander.
196
Lysandra
Enraged that Thessalonice had deprived him of
rule over all of Macedonia, Antipater murdered his
mother. Alexander asked the general Demetrius,
called the Besieger, for help in avenging her death.
Instead, Demetrius murdered Alexander, ousted
Antipater, and made himself king of Macedonia in
295 b.c.e. Lysandra fled with her children to her
father's court in Egypt.
Two years later, Lysandra married Agathocles,
the son of Lysimachus of Thrace. Her father-in-
law became ruler of Macedonia in 285 after
defeating Demetrius. He married Lysandra's half
sister Arsinoe II Philadelphia. Arsinoe per-
suaded her elderly husband to have Lysandra's
husband Agathocles murdered on suspicion of
treason in 283. Lysandra fled with her children
to Antioch seeking the protection of Seleucus, an
enemy of her father-in-law. In 281, Lysimachus
was defeated and killed in a battle with
Seleucus.
Lysandra was so angry over the murder of
Agathocles that it was difficult for members of her
father-in-law's family to retrieve his body. Nothing
more is known of Lysandra's saga.
Sources
Pausanias. Description of Greece 1.9, 10.3—5.
Plutarch. Vitae Parallelae (Parallel Lives): Demetrius
36.1-5.
Macurdy, Grace. Hellenistic Queens. Reprint. Chicago: Ares
Publishers, 1985, pp. 55-58.
197
M
6N0
Macrina
(c. 270-340 c.e.)
early Christian
Roman: Pontus
Macrina was a matriarch whose grandchildren
shaped early Christian asceticism. As a child, she
and her family were influenced by Gregory of
Thaumaurgus, the first bishop in the city of Neo-
caesarea, in Pontus, the region of modern Turkey
north of Cappadocia. It was an area noted as a cen-
ter of early Christianity. In 112, two centuries
before the conversion of Constantine, the younger
Pliny had written to the emperor Trajan from Asia
Minor, where he was governor of the province of
Bithynia, to request guidance about the Christians.
Persecutions against Christians persisted with
more or less vigor in different parts of the empire
including Asia Minor until the early fourth cen-
tury. Macrina and her family were affected in 306,
a scant six years before the battle at the Mulvian
bridge and the conversion of Constantine. Her
estates were confiscated but she escaped with her
husband and children into the countryside where
they stayed hidden for several years. After 312, she
and her family returned to the city. They were hon-
ored for their steadfastness and their property was
reinstated.
Macrina educated her daughter Emmelia as a
Christian and lived long enough to take part in the
religious upbringing of her grandchildren, Peter,
Basil, and Gregory, each of whom became a notable
bishop. Her granddaughter, the younger Macrina,
became a famous ascetic and founded a monastery.
Her children and grandchildren remembered
her as a model of piety and of maternal caring. The
exact date of her death is unknown.
Sources
Basil. Epistle 204, 6; 223: 3.
Catholic Encyclopedia, Vol. IX, 1990.
Macrina the Younger
(c. 327-379/380 c.e.)
religious leader
Roman: Pontus
Macrina was the dominant personality in a family of
extraordinary achievement, renown, and piety.
According to her brother Gregory, the bishop of
Nyssa, her principles became those of the people
around her and the imprint of her personality shaped
them all. Companion to her three notable brothers,
the bishops Peter, Basil, and Gregory, she founded
and led a monastery for women on the family's estate
in Annisa, in Pontus, not far from the Black Sea. Her
asceticism rested on a simple life, work, study, and
prayer. Gregory credited her in a eulogy written after
her death with inspiring their brother Basil to develop
a monastic rule for men.
198
Macrina the Younger
According to Gregory, their mother, Emmelia,
educated Macrina in the scriptures and the psalter,
which she recited daily. Her brothers had a more
traditional education, which included pagan litera-
ture and philosophy. However, in writing about
Macrina, Gregory noted that his sister was familiar
with classical literature. Possibly, she learned from
her brothers as much as she taught them. Alterna-
tively, she may have discovered the Greek literature
that was available in the family household through
her own initiative.
Macrina's younger life followed a traditional
path for well-born girls, albeit within a family of
strong women and devoted Christians. She was 12
years old when her father arranged for her betrothal
and, as was frequently the situation, the marriage
was postponed until Macrina was older. However,
her prospective husband died and Macrina refused
to consider another marriage partner. She argued
that her betrothal remained valid since she and her
prospective husband would be reunited by the
coming Resurrection. In her Christian family the
argument held weight.
After the death of her father in 340, Macrina,
her mother, and her grandmother, the elder Mac-
rina, raised Macrina's eight younger siblings. Mac-
rina waited on her mother, baked bread, and
performed the other manifold chores for a house-
hold of children, adults, and dependents, includ-
ing other kin and slaves, all living together in a
compound of buildings, stables, and gardens. For
her younger brother Peter, who later became bishop
of Sabaste, she became mother, father, and teacher.
Affluent and educated, Macrina's engagement with
the busy household also discouraged further pres-
sure for marriage.
Although her later fame has highlighted the
spiritual, Macrina was an eminently practical
woman. She shared with her mother oversight of
the family's holdings. In addition to the household
and its gardens, they together managed four
income-producing estates in three provinces on
which they paid taxes to three rulers.
Gradually, however, she and her mother lived a
more monastic life. Macrina's experiences with
ascetic living echoed and influenced adherents in
other parts of the empire. During these decades,
asceticism was a new and expanding phenomenon
that was probably, at least in part, a spiritual
response to the deteriorating conditions of life in
the empire. Not only was there the familiar threat
of violence among contenders for the imperial
purple, but there was a loss of security as wars with
the tribes that had previously remained on the bor-
ders of the empire came ever closer. The century
was also a period of widespread economic deterio-
ration, which accelerated a decline in urban infra-
structure. Fewer new roads, baths, arenas, and
aqueducts were built or kept in repair. The trans-
port of goods was more difficult, and agricultural
productivity declined. A life of private contempla-
tion that struggled to erase the power of externali-
ties held an appeal, especially when it was reinforced
by the Christian promise of Resurrection.
Macrina, along with Basil's colleagues among-
churchmen like Eustathius of Sebaste, also in Asia
Minor, influenced Basil's development of commu-
nal monastic rules for men. Gregory wrote that
when their brother Basil returned from schooling
in Athens, skilled in rhetoric and disdainful of the
local residents, it was Macrina who convinced him
through example and argument to embrace an
ascetic life.
Basil's presence, and the marriage of Macrina's
sisters in 357, changed the household. Macrina
persuaded her mother to organize their life in an
even more overtly monastic fashion. Unlike other
monasteries and houses for widows and virgin
women in which wealthy members still had the
services of slaves or attendants, Macrina insisted
that their household eliminate all earthly distinc-
tions of birth or wealth. All of the women in the
household were expected to undertake household
chores, eat the same food together, and enjoy simi-
larly simple sleeping arrangements. They lived
without luxury, worked, studied religious texts,
prayed, and sang hymns.
After her mother's death in 370/371, Macrina
and her brothers inherited the family assets equally.
Basil built a monastery for men on the family
property in Annisa. Across a small stream, Macrina
built a house for virgin women and widows. The
199
Maecia Faustina
two monasteries were separate and distinct,
although on occasion they shared services and
food. The siblings, Basil, Peter, Gregory, and Mac-
rina, however, remained in continuous communi-
cation through visits and letters. In contrast with
Basil, Macrina chose not to direct the women's
house; instead she became its spiritual mother, set-
ting an example for sisters to emulate. She donated
her portion of the inheritance from her mother to
the local church for charitable purposes and proba-
bly expected that the donation would also assure
care for the future for her monastery.
Macrina also insisted that the women's commu-
nity be as self-sufficient as possible. Her emphasis
on self-sufficiency, like her donation to the local
church, became a common practice in the later
monastic movement. Possibly, however, self-suffi-
ciency was for her as much a necessity as a virtue:
If the monastery were to survive, there was little
choice but for it to provide for itself. The practical
aspect of Macrina may have considered self-suffi-
ciency an investment in the uncertain future no
less than the donation of land secured the relatively
fragile local church.
Gregory was with Macrina as she lay dying. He
described her room, the pallet she used for a bed,
the simplicity of her cloak, and the modesty of her
physical needs. Gregory did not dwell on her phil-
osophical ideas. However, in his work, On the Soul
and the Resurrection, he created a dialogue in which
Macrina was his teacher and she discoursed on
philosophical questions that interwove Christian
and pagan thought. Possibly, she was only Grego-
ry's Diotoma. Neither her learning nor her persona
were representative of a real woman, but rather an
inspiration. Alternatively, her insights may have
had all the sophistication and clarity Gregory
attributed to her.
Macrina died in 379/380 with Gregory at her
bedside.
Sources
Corrigan, Kevin. "Syncletica and Macrina: Two Early Lives
of Women Saints." Available online. URL: http://www.
peregrina.com/voxbenedictina. Accessed June 19, 2007.
Gregory of Nyssa. Ascetic Works, On the Soul and Resurrec-
tion, passim. Life of Macrina, in Handmaids of the Lord:
Contemporary Descriptions of Feminine Asceticism in the
First Six Christian Centuries. Translated and edited by
Joan M. Peterson. Kalamazoo: Cistercian Publication,
Inc., 1996.
Roth, Catherine. "Platonic and Pauline Elements in the
Ascent of the Soul in Gregory of Nyssa's Dialogue on
the Soul and the Resurrection." Vigiliae Christianae 46,
no. 1 (March 1992): 20-30.
[b] Maecia Faustina
(third century c.e.)
Roman: Italy and North Africa
ruler for son
Maecia Faustina was able, wealthy, noble and lived
during difficult times in the third century c.e. Her
family was old and honored. Her mother, Fabia
Orestilla, was the daughter of the consul Annius
Severus. Her father, Marcus Antonius Gordianus,
was a man of culture and wealth. A follower of the
Epicurian school, he traced his lineage back to the
Gracchi on his father's side and to the emperor
Trajan on his mother's. Maecia Faustina spent her
childhood in a house built by the great republican
general Pompey whose previous owners also
included the triumvir Mark Antony and the
emperor Tiberius. She married Junius Balbus, a
man of consular rank, and gave birth to a son,
Antonius, who became emperor at the age of 13.
Her father, while proconsul of Africa, was asked
to become emperor of Rome by a young group of
aristocrats in revolt against the emperor Maximi-
nus, whom they considered hostile to the Senate.
Reluctantly, he accepted. In 238 c.e., at the age of
79, he was recognized by the Senate. He took the
title Gordian I and made Maecia Faustina's brother,
Gordian II, his colleague. Her brother died soon
after in battle, and her father committed suicide,
having ruled for only 22 days.
After the deaths of the two Gordians, the Sen-
ate appointed Decius Caelius Balbinus and Pupi-
enus Maximus joint emperors. They were a part of
a senatorial board of 20 that had led the earlier
opposition to Maximinus. To satisfy the poplar
demand for imperial continuity, they elevated
Maecia's son to Caesar. Three months later, the two
200
Mallonia
emperors were murdered by the Praetorian Guard.
Maecia Faustina and her husband had probably
bribed the Praetorian Guard to act quickly. The
13-year-old Antonius was declared emperor on
July 9, 238.
The new emperor, who took the name Gordian
III, followed a political course favored by the Senate.
Maecia Faustina directed the affairs of state, sup-
ported by the faction that had supported her father
and opposed Maximinus. Reform policies were initi-
ated in administration, fiscal affairs, and the army.
Efforts were taken to limit frivolous charges against
the rich and notable. Attention was paid to strength-
ening defenses at the frontiers, and gross abuses of
power in the provinces were prosecuted. Despite
efforts of reform, however, it was a period of finan-
cial difficulty and political instability.
In 24 1 , Gaius Furius Timesitheus was appointed
prefect of the Praetorian Guard and assumed effec-
tive control over the young emperor. Gordian III
married Timesitheus's daughter, Furia Sabina Tran-
quillina in the same year. The able Timesitheus
died in 243. Gordian appointed Philippus from
Arabia to take his place. Gordian III died of battle
wounds in 244, and Philippus took the title of
emperor.
Nothing is known of the final fate of Maecia
Faustina.
Sources
Scriptores Historiae Augustae. Gordian 22.4; 23.6—7;
25.3-4.
Townsend, Prescott W. "The Administration of Gordian
III." Yale Classical Studies 15 (1955): 59-132.
Townsend, Prescott W. "The Revolution of a.d. 238: The
Leaders and Their Aims." Yale Classical Studies 14
(1955): 49-97.
[a] Maesia
(first century b.c.e.)
Roman: Umbria and Rome
lawyer
Maesia was a native of Sentium from Umbria, in
Italy. Tried on a criminal charge, she conducted
her own defense before the praetor Lucius Titus.
She was acquitted by the jury. Praised for her skill
in successfully pleading her case, she was also deni-
grated with the epithet "androgyne" for stepping
beyond the traditional female role.
Sources
Valerius Maximus. Factorum et dictorum memorabilium
libri 1X83.1.
Bauman, Richard A. Women and Politics in Ancient Rome.
London: Routledge, 1994, p. 50.
Marshall, A. J. "Ladies at Law: The Role of Women in the
Roman Civil Courts." In Studies in Latin Literature and
Roman History, ed. by C. Deroux. Brussels, Belgium:
Latomus, 1989,pp. 41, 47.
Magia
(first century b.c.e.)
mother of Virgil
Roman: Italy
Magia was the mother of Virgil, Rome's greatest
poet. She lived near Mantua in northern Italy and
was married to a man who may have begun his
career as a potter. Her husband may have been
employed by her father as an assistant to the mag-
istrates before their fortunes improved, and he
became a landowner able to provide Virgil with a
good education.
Virgil was probably born on October 15, 70
b.c.e. According to legend, Magia gave birth in a
ditch on the side of the road while traveling with
her husband in the country.
Sources
Suetonius. The Lives of Illustrious Men: De grammaticis
(Grammarians), Virgil 1-3.
Oxford Classical Dictionary, ed. by Simon Hornblower and
Antony Spawforth. 3d. ed. New York: Oxford Univer-
sity Press, 1996, p. 1,602.
Mallonia
(first century c.e.)
political victim
Roman: Rome
Mallonia is the only name we know of a woman
reputed to be of high rank. She was said to have
attracted the attentions of the emperor Tiberius
around 26 c.e. The emperor was already old, ema-
ciated and bald with a face disfigured by blotches.
He repelled Mallonia, who may have been a good
201
Marcella
deal younger, and she refused his advances. Tiberius
supposedly gathered derogatory information about
her, which resulted in a trial. Tiberius pressed her
to regret her behavior toward him. After leaving
the court, she returned home and stabbed herself.
A rude joke about Tiberius and Mallonia became
current in the next street-corner Atellan farce, a
popular entertainment of the day.
Sources
Suetonius. The Lives of the Caesars: Tiberius 45.
[a] Marcella
(?^10 c.e.) Roman: Rome
Christian ascetic and scholar
Marcella was the descendant of an illustrious fam-
ily of consuls and praetorian prefects. Although
she had all the arrogance, wealth, self-assurance,
and confidence of an elite Roman, she chose to
become an ascetic Christian who struggled with
humility, charity, and prayer.
Marcella's mother was the elder Albina, a
Christian who was lauded as univira, a widowed
woman who never remarried. No information sur-
vives about Marcella's youth, but she was probably
brought up Christian. She was well educated in
both the classical and Christian texts and in Latin
and Greek.
She married and was widowed seven months
later. Her family assumed that she would remarry.
There was no reason for her to remain alone,
although at any one time in the cities and villas of
large landed estates across the empire there were
probably a significant number of households headed
by women who chose to be unmarried. Roman his-
tory had a number of women who made lives for
themselves alone after the death of their husbands.
The renowned Cornelia (2) retreated to the coun-
try and her estate became a gathering place for the
elite of the second century b.c.e. Moreover, she
lived with her widowed and childless daughter, Sem-
pronia. Some 400 years later, in the second century
C.e. the younger Pliny regularly corresponded with
his widowed aunt who lived alone and managed her
own estates. Exiled men, like Cicero in the late
Republic, left women, like his wife Terentia,
behind to salvage family property and lobby for
their return. All during the centuries, the time and
distance routinely traveled on business or as part of
civil and military assignments further contributed
to many women at home managing family life and
business affairs for months and years at a time.
However, widowhood was not a sought-after
status. Aside from the emotional loss, families of
position and wealth needed legitimate heirs. His-
torically, the elite families were the linchpin of
social and economic life. Great families like that to
which Marcella belonged were at the apex of a pyr-
amid that spread out to include slaves, freedmen
and women, and less wealthy friends, families, and
kin. Their relationships, like the properties they
owned, extended across the empire and over gener-
ations. Continuity not only provided a living gen-
eration to celebrate their ancestors (which also
meant celebrating the greatness of Rome), but it
also insured the network of obligations and respon-
sibilities that bound together disparate groups into
a functioning social system.
As Marcella was young and attractive, her
mother had no difficulty finding a wealthy, though
much older, suitor, Naeratius Cerealis, whose fam-
ily had the consular credentials that admitted him
to the inner circle of Roman high society. His offer
to Marcella was generous. Although women con-
trolled their own wealth and had personal legal
rights, there were liabilities to being a woman
alone, and a powerful male protector was never
unimportant. Acknowledging the difference in
their ages, Cerealis also offered her his fortune
upon his death.
Marcella refused. She claimed that had she
sought to remarry, she would have been more
interested in a husband than a fortune. For her
family, however, the more disturbing decision was
that she would live out her life dedicated to Christ.
Her decision may not have been wholly unex-
pected, since her parents had decided that Marcel-
la's younger sister, Asella, would remain an
unmarried virgin and dedicate her life to God.
Marcella's mother accepted Marcella's decision
with a caveat. She, possibly after a family council,
requested that Marcella assign her portion of the
202
Marcella
family wealth to her uncle, C. Caeionius Rufus,
and his four children. Marcella agreed, perhaps
with some reluctance, since she may have had
other plans. However, as in many other cases when
wealthy women gave away their wealth, whether to
churches or relatives, she retained sufficient income
and property to support her new life. It was suffi-
cient for her to travel, make donations, and sup-
port several houses around the city with day-to-day
household expenses for a resident population that
included numbers of short- and long-term visitors,
dependents, disciples, slaves, freedmen and women,
and sundry others.
According to Jerome, Marcella led the first gen-
eration of well-born woman in Rome who publicly
embraced celibacy and established Christian houses
for like-minded women. She already lived with her
mother and her sister when she invited virgin
women and chaste widows to join them in her
palatial house on the Aventine in a wealthy resi-
dential section of Rome. The women prayed
together, fasted, and studied religious texts and the
Bible, primarily in Greek, thereby using their
sophisticated upper-class bilingual educations to
ascetic ends. Their simple lifestyle also did not lack
for attendants to serve them. Jerome, writing Mar-
cella with advice, urged her to leave the house as
infrequently as possible, except on Christian mis-
sions and reminded her to treat the lowliest of
slave women as she would treat her social peer.
Marcella's household became a center for the
visiting elite of Christendom. Visiting priests and
bishops from the East met their Western and Afri-
can counterparts. The bishop of Rome, Athana-
sius, brought information to Marcella about the
growing monastic movement. Priests from Alexan-
dria informed her about the rules of Saint Anthony,
one of the originators of monastic life, who was
still living in the desert of Lower Egypt. Marcella
became acknowledged as a teacher. The elder Paula
sent her daughter Eustochium to live and study
with her before they left Rome in 385. Christians
asked her to settle disputes over the interpretation
of texts. She modestly never took credit for herself,
however, and always noted the authority from
whom she had gained insight.
All during her life Marcella also maintained an
extensive correspondence. The letters of Jerome
mention her years of corresponding with Paula,
the elder Melania, and Eustochium, to name
only a few. After the exchange of many letters,
Marcella met Jerome in 382 when he came to
Rome. They discussed the scriptures and, subse-
quently over the years, exchanged letters on points
of interpretation. It was at a scripture reading in
Marcella's house that the elder Paula had met
Jerome. Three or four years later, in 386 c.e., a
year after Jerome left Rome and soon after Paula
and Eustochium joined him, he wrote Marcella
on behalf of the three of them urging her to join
them in Palestine. She chose to remain in Rome.
After the death of her mother in 388, Marcella
and her young disciple, Principia, moved to a
smaller house in a suburb of Rome, which she
shared with other women who followed her life-
style. Her sister, Asella, also lived in the house, in
a small cell of her own.
Marcella's retiring public posture contrasted
with her engagement in the Christian debates of
the day. A contretemps involving Jerome had even
sent her lobbying to the bishop of Rome. In 397,
Tyrannius Rufinus, who translated a number of
works by Origen and had been a close colleague of
the elder Melania for many years in the East,
arrived in Rome. During his stay, he published a
translation of a work of Origen, whose theology
was now considered suspect by some of the ortho-
dox. In the preface, Rufinus included praise of
Origen from an early work translated into Latin by
Jerome. Jerome, who had since distanced himself
from Origen, was furious at the implication that
he still held his earlier views. The normally retiring
Marcella, siding with Jerome, wrote letters, pro-
duced witnesses, and demanded that the bishop
Anastasius condemn Origen as a heretic. The
bishop bowed to her demands, much to the gratifi-
cation of Jerome.
On August 24, 410, the Goths under Alaric
invaded Rome. The inhabitants were starving.
The conquerors looted, burned buildings, and
killed. Soldiers broke into Marcella's house,
demanded money, and beat her with clubs when
203
Marcella the Elder, Claudia
they discovered she had none. She pleaded with
them to spare her young disciple Principia. They
did and took both of them to the Basilica of Paul,
which was safe. A few days later Marcella died
with Principia at her side.
Sources
Jerome. Letter XXIII, XXVII, XXXII, XXXVIII, XLI,
XLVI, LIX, XLVII, CXXVII.
Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire. Vol. I. Edited by
A. H. M. Jones, J. R. Martindale, and J. Morris. Cam-
bridge: Cambridge University Press, 1971. Reprinted
1992, pp. 542-543.
[a] Marcella the Elder, Claudia
(43 b.c.e.-? b.c.e./c.e.) Roman: Rome
political player
The elder Claudia Marcella belonged to the gener-
ation whose childhood was marred by the violence
of civil wars. Born in 43 b.c.e., Marcella was one
of three siblings: a brother, Marcus Claudius Mar-
cellus, born in 42, and a sister, the younger Clau-
dia Marcella, born in 39. Her father, Gaius
Claudius Marcellus, consul in 50 b.c.e., died by
the time she was three years old and she grew up
under the care of her mother, Octavia (2). As
intermittent civil war took its toll, her mother col-
lected in her household children from her own two
marriages and the orphaned children from the
marriages of her ex-husband Mark Antony with
Fulvia (2) and with Cleopatra VII. Octavia edu-
cated, dowered, and married the children of this
extended family, assuring republican family lines
into the next generation.
Marcella married Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa in
28 b.c.e. She was about 15; he was 36 years old.
She was his second wife. Agrippa was a military
man loyal to Octavian throughout the civil war.
She brought Agrippa a tie to an elite republican
house and to Octavian himself since not only was
Octavian Marcella's uncle but her great-grand-
mother was Julia (4), the favorite sister of Julius
Caesar.
Although austere and older, Agrippa appears to
have been a good husband. A daughter may have
been born to them. Seven years later, however, the
marriage succumbed to new political realities.
Marcella's brother had died two years earlier. He
had been the husband of Julia (6), Augustus's only
child, and favored for succession. In 21 b.c.e.,
when there was unrest in Rome and Augustus was
obliged to leave the city, he sought someone of
unquestioned loyalty. Who better qualified than
Agrippa, and how better to assure his already tested
loyalty than a marriage with his daughter Julia.
Marcella was divorced with Octavia's concurrence.
Marcella almost immediately married again.
Her new husband was her childhood playmate,
Iullus Antonius, consul in 10 b.c.e. He was the
handsome, cultured second son of Fulvia and Mark
Antony, and he was some 20 years Agrippa's junior.
With Antonius she became part of the most visible
group of post-civil war aristocrats in public life
with ties to the republican past. They were a part of
the group around the emperor's daughter, Julia.
Augustus had made clear on many occasions
that his daughter and her friends lived a lifestyle he
found objectionable. In 2 b.c.e. Augustus pro-
voked a public scandal with a letter to the Senate
detailing the adulterous behavior of his daughter
and her friends. It seems probable that more than
illicit sex was involved. Julia was exiled. We have
no evidence to what part, if any, Marcella played in
the scandal. However, her husband was identified
as the group's ringleader and condemned to death
for adultery and conspiracy against Augustus. He
was either executed or forced to commit suicide.
Marcella and Antonius had a son, Lucius, and
perhaps a daughter. Nothing is known of the end
Marcella's life.
Sources
Dio Cassius. Roman History 54.6.5.
Plutarch. Vitae Parallelae (Parallel Lives): Antonius 87 .2- 3.
Seneca. Ad Marciam de consolatione 2.3-4.
Suetonius. The Lives of the Caesars: Augustus 63.1.
Balsdon, J. P. V D. Roman Women. New York: John Day
Comp., 1963, p. 208.
Pauly, A., G. Wissowa, and W. Kroll. Real-Encyclopadie
D. Classischen Altertumswissenschafi 1893— (Germany:
multiple publishers) 422.
Syme, Ronald. The Augustan Aristocracy. Oxford: Claren-
don Press, 1986, index.
204
Marcellina
[b] Marcella the Younger, Claudia
(39 b.c.e.-? c.e.) Roman: Rome
political wife
Claudia Marcella was born in 39 b.c.e. and grew
up part of the first post-Actium generation. Her
father, Claudius Marcellus, was consul in 50 b.c.e.
and died in 40. She spent her youth in the house-
hold of her mother, Octavia (2), with her siblings,
the children of her mother's marriage with Mark
Antony, and the orphaned children of Mark Ant-
ony and his two wives, Fulvia (i) and Cleopatra
VII. Marcella, the descendant of a great republican
house, was the great-granddaughter of Julia (4),
the favorite sister of Julius Caesar. She and her sib-
lings provided a critical link between the republi-
can past and the new empire.
About 15 b.c.e. when she was 24, she married
Paullus Aemilius Lepidus, consul suffectus in 34
b.c.e. and censor in 22. Possibly there had been an
earlier marriage. The marriage linked two honored
republican houses and tied them closely to the
imperial circle. Before her husband died, Marcella
gave birth to a son, Paullus Aemilius Regulus.
After her husband's death she married Marcus
Valerius Messalla Barbatus Appianus, consul in 12
B.C. She outlived him. They had a daughter,
Claudia Pulchra, and a son, Messalla Barbatus.
Her son married Domitia Lepida, and their child,
Valeria Messallina, would become the wife of the
emperor Claudius. Marcella would have been
about 64 when Messallina was born; it is not
known if she was still alive.
Sources
Balsdon, J. P. V. D. Roman Women. New York: John Day
Comp., 1963, pp. 71,73, 74.
Pauly, A., G. Wissowa, and W. Kroll. Real-Encyclopadie
D. Classischen Altertumswissenschaft 1893-. (Germany:
multiple publishers) 423.
Syme, Ronald. The Augustan Aristocracy. Oxford: Claren-
don Press, 1986, index.
Roman: Trier, Rome
[a] Marcellina
(c. 330-335-c. 398 c.e.;
Christian ascetic
Marcellina lived in Rome and provided her younger
brother Ambrose, bishop of Milan, with a trusted
Roman base. When Ambrose was ill, she traveled to
Milan to nurse him. In Milan and Rome she was
part of the elite circle of women who lived ascetic
lives but remained active in religious politics.
Marcellina had another younger brother
Satyrus. Her father was also named Ambrose and
was Prefect of Gaul, which included jurisdiction
over Spain, Britain, and part of Africa. Her mother,
a native of Rome, remains otherwise unknown.
The family had long been Christian. Sometime
around 533, Marcellina publicly vowed to live her
life a virgin and an ascetic, after she had spent five
years studying with Liberius, the bishop of Rome.
Ambrose described the ceremony of her dedication
to asceticism in his writing on virginity.
Marcellina remained at home in Rome with her
mother to educate her brothers until she felt the
need for a more contemplative life. With a group
of like-minded women she established a commu-
nal house in a family residence on the outskirts of
the city. When Ambrose became bishop of Milan,
he turned over his estates to the church but left
Marcellina a life interest from the revenue.
They were contrasting personalities. Ambrose
was an electric leader and a committed Christian
proselytizer. He dominated the Christian commu-
nity in Milan. Marcellina, most of the time living
in Rome, was always in the background, even
when she visited Milan. Nonetheless, she influ-
enced him, and he admired her. He was also con-
cerned with her tendency to extreme asceticism,
which he feared could affect her health.
Marcellina and Ambrose frequently exchanged
letters. In a long letter, Ambrose described his con-
flict with Justina, who wanted a basilica in Milan
reserved for Arian believers. Marcellina worried
about the political unrest that the conflict might
engender. Despite the presence of soldiers, how-
ever, the populace rallied behind Ambrose. Justina
did not prevail, and his sister's fears were allayed.
The death of Satyrus in 379 saddened Marcel-
lina and Ambrose. Nineteen years later, Ambrose
died, in 397, and Marcellina followed not long
after, in about 398.
Sources
Ambrose. Letters XX, XXII, XLI.
205
Marcia (I)
Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire. Vol. I. Edited by
A. H. M. Jones, J. R. Martindale, and J. Morris. Cam-
bridge: Cambridge University Press, 1971. Reprinted
1992, p. 544.
Marcia (I)
(?-113b.c.e.;
priestess
Roman: Rome
Marcia was one of three Vestal Virgins charged
with illicit relations in 1 14 b.c.e. It was believed an
ill omen for Rome for three out of the six Vestals,
who protected the sacred flame in one of the city's
oldest temples on the Forum, to be charged with
the most serious crime they could commit.
Of the three, only one, Aemilia (i), was found
guilty and condemned. Her partner was identified
as L. Veturius, an equestrian. Although Marcia and
the third Vestal, Licinia (4), were declared inno-
cent by the pontifex maximus, popular protest
resulted in the establishment of a special tribunal
to reexamine the case. Lucius Cassius Longinus
Ravilla conducted the investigation. Both Marcia
and Licinia were found guilty and condemned to
death in 113.
Marcia was accused of having had only one
man, a companion of Veturius. Her sister Vestal,
Aemilia, was said to have made the arrangements.
The evidence was given by a slave.
Sources
Dio Cassius. Roman History 26, 87.
Livy. From the Founding of the City 43.
Orosius. Seven Books of History Against the Pagans 5.15,
20-22.
Plutarch. Moralia: Quaestiones Romanae 83 (284).
Bauman, Richard A. Women and Politics in Ancient Rome.
London: Routledge, 1994, pp. 53-55, 57-58.
Marcia (2)
(first century b.c.e.)
political wife
Roman: Rome
Marcia divorced her husband to marry another
man, who died and left her a wealthy widow. She
then remarried her first husband. Other than the
obvious financial benefit, any reason for her remar-
riage remains obscure. Marcia was one of three sib-
lings. Her father was Lucius Marcius Philippus,
consul in 56 b.c.e., and her stepmother was Atia
(1), the mother of the future emperor Augustus
and his sister Octavia (2) by her first husband.
Her father's marriage, probably sometime around
58 b.c.e., was followed by her brother's marriage
to her stepmother's sister, Atia (2). In consequence,
there was a double relationship between Marcia
and her siblings and Augustus and his sister.
Marcia became the second wife of the younger
Marcus Porcius Cato. Her husband, attracted to
the Stoic philosophy, was a stubborn man of rigid
principles and somewhat unpleasant personality.
He believed that he alone lived in accordance with
the traditions of the ancients. He also believed that
one should only engage in sex to produce children.
He had two children by his first wife and three
daughters with Marcia.
A close friend of her husband, Quintus Horten-
sius, consul in 69 b.c.e., was a famous orator and,
like Cato, one of the leaders of the conservative
oligarchy. When he was in his early 60s and already
had grown children, he sought to marry Porcia,
Cato's eldest daughter by his first wife, Atilia. Por-
cia was already married and had two sons. Unde-
terred, Hortensius asked Cato to divorce Marcia so
that he could marry her. Cato agreed if it was ame-
nable all around. Neither Marcia nor her father
objected. The divorce and new marriage took place
in 56 b.c.e. Cato hosted the wedding. No children
resulted, and Hortensius died leaving Marcia a
much richer woman. She then remarried Cato.
During the five remaining years of Cato's life,
he was said to have refrained from sex with Marcia
since he felt that they already had enough children
and Marcia had experienced a sufficient burden in
bearing them. Marcia might well have concurred
with their abstinence, given the high death rate for
women bearing children. Abstinence was abetted
by Cato's absence. He spent of these years fighting
with Gnaeus Pompeius (Pompey the Great) against
Caesar. In 46, he died by his own hand in Africa
after Caesar defeated the remaining core of senato-
rial opposition. Her stepdaughter Porcia also killed
herself a year before the defeat of Brutus and Cas-
206
Marcia (3)
sius at the battle of Philippi in 42. Marcias life
after Cato is unrecorded.
Sources
Lucan. Pharsalia 2.326-89.
Plutarch. Vitae Parallelae (Parallel Lives): Cato Minor 25 .1—
5; 52.
Balsdon, J. P. V. D. Roman Women. New York: John Day
Comp., 1963, p. 190.
Pomeroy, Sarah B. Goddesses, Whores, Wives, and Slaves:
Women in Classical Antiquity. New York: Schocken
Books, 1975, pp. 158, 160-161.
Gordon, Hattie. "The Eternal Triangle, First Century B.C."
Classical Journal '28 (1933): 574-578.
Pauly, A., G. Wissowa, and W. Kroll. Real-Encyclopadie
D. Classischen Altertumswissenschaft 1893-. (Germany:
multiple publishers) 115.
(D Marcia (3)
(first century B.c.E.-first century
c.e.) Roman: Italy Cyprus, Asia, Spain
patron of the arts
Marcia was born into an ancient and honored
republican family with close ties to the nascent
empire through Octavian, later the emperor Augus-
tus, and his sister Octavia (2). Part of the circle
that included some of the greatest of the Latin
poets, and she was on the periphery of the scandals
in 8 c.e. that rocked the Roman elite and resulted
in the banishment by Augustus of his granddaugh-
ter Julia (7) and the exile of the poet Ovid.
Marcias immediate family relationships were
complicated. Her father was Lucius Marcius Philip-
pus, tribune in 49 b.c.e., consul suffectus in 38 and
governor of Spain in 34-33?; her mother, Atia (2),
was the younger sister of her grandfathers second
wife. The older Atia (i) had already been married
once before she married Marcias grandfather. Dur-
ing her earlier marriage the older Atia had had two
children, Octavian and Octavia. Marcia, therefore,
had Augustus and Octavia as a stepuncle and aunt.
Their children were her stepcousins.
To further complicate the relationships, after
Marcias father died, her mother married Quintus
Fabius Maximus, the father of Paullus Fabius Maxi-
mus, whom Marcia married in 16 b.c.e. Her hus-
band had an illustrious career. A close associate of
Augustus, he was appointed quaestor in 22 or 21,
elected consul in 1 1, was proconsul in Asia in 10-9,
and then governor in northwest Spain in 3—2 b.c.e.
Her husband was also known as an orator and a
patron of poets. Horace, whose principal benefac-
tor was Gaius Maecenas, wrote an ode in honor of
her marriage in 16 b.c.e. Marcia followed her hus-
band and was honored by a dedication at Paphos
in Cyprus. A close friend of Marcia and her mother
was Ovid's third wife, whose name remains
unknown. Marcia appears in Ovid's poetry. He
composed a wedding ode to Marcia and her hus-
band in 12 or 13 c.e. In a poem of 4 c.e., he wrote
that her beauty matched her noble birth.
In 8 c.e., Augustus banished Ovid to Tomis on
the Black Sea for reasons that are still obscure.
Ovid used his poetry and the friendship of Marcia
and his wife in an attempt to have the banishment
rescinded. In a poem written about 13 c.e., he
admonished his wife to affirm her devotion to
Marcia. Whatever may have been Marcias efforts
on Ovid's behalf, however, they were unsuccessful.
Her husband died in 14. Rumors arose that
Fabius Maximus had committed suicide and that
at the funeral Marcia had blamed her indiscretion
for his death. Her husband had supposedly accom-
panied Augustus on a secret trip to Planasia where
Agrippa Postumus, the third son of the great gen-
eral Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa and Augustus's
daughter Julia (6), had been exiled. Still without a
firm designation of his heir, Augustus was explor-
ing the possibility that the boy's personality disor-
ders had mitigated, and perhaps of pardoning him.
Marcia, a friend of Augustus's wife Livia Drusilla,
purportedly told her of the trip, and the resulting
anger of the emperor caused her husband to kill
himself.
Marcia and Maximus had a son, Paullus Fabius
Persicus, consul in 34 c.e., and a daughter, Fabia
NUMANTINA.
Sources
Dio Cassius. Roman History 56.30, 1—2.
Tacitus. Annales 1.5.1 ff.
Levick, Barbara. Tiberius the Politician. London: Thames
and Hudson, 1976, p. 64.
207
Marcia (4)
Oxford Classical Dictionary, ed. by Simon Hornblower and
Antony Spawforth. 3d. ed. New York: Oxford Univer-
sity Press, 1996, p. 582.
Pauly, A., G. Wissowa, and W. Kroll. Real-Encyclopadie
D. Classischen Altertumswissenschaft 1893— (Germany:
multiple publishers) 120.
Syme, Ronald. The Augustan Aristocracy. Oxford: Claren-
don Press, 1986, index.
. History in Ovid. New York: Oxford University
Press, 1978, index.
Marcia (4)
(?-193 c.e.)
conspirator
Roman: Rome
Marcia, probably a freedwoman of the co-emperor
Lucius Verus, protected herself and her own inter-
ests at a time when imperial power, always arbi-
trary, had become increasingly unbounded. As a
young woman and the lover of Ummidius Qua-
dratus, she was persuaded by Annia Aurelia Gale-
ria Lucilla, sister of the emperor Commodus, to
join in a plot to kill the emperor. The plot was
discovered. Quadratus and Lucilla were executed
in 182 c.e. Marcia, however, escaped charges and
punishment and became companion and lover of
Commodus, whom she greatly influenced. She
favored Christianity and persuaded Commodus
to adopt a benign policy toward Christians. She
asked Victor, the bishop of Rome, for a list of
Christians who had been deported to Sardinia
and persuaded Commodus to allow them to
return to Rome.
Commodus's behavior became increasingly
bizarre until in 192, he decided to present himself
to the Roman people on the first day of the new
year in a gladiator's costume instead of the tradi-
tional purple worn by Romans with the power of
imperium. Marcia could not dissuade him, nor
could his servant Eclectus or Aemilius Laetus, the
prefect of the Praetorian Guard. In fact, their
efforts to control the emperor almost led to their
execution: A slave boy of the emperor found a list
of proscribed names. Marcia discovered that the
list contained the names of many prominent sena-
tors and that her name, as well as Eclectus and Lae-
tus, headed the list.
Marcia, Eclectus, and Laetus decided to kill
Commodus. Marcia poisoned a cup of wine. Com-
modus, already made very ill, was strangled. They
sent the body to the edge of the city and spread a
rumor that Commodus had died of apoplexy. They
chose a distinguished senator, Publius Helvius Per-
tinax, to replace Commoodus and revealed their
plot to him. He was declared emperor by the Prae-
torian Guard on January 1, 193. Marcia married
Eclectus. Six months later, Pertinax was executed
by members of the Praetorian Guard who were
angered by his strict discipline, and Marcia and her
husband were also killed.
Sources
Dio Cassius. Roman History 73 .4, 6-7, 22.4-6; 74.16.5.
Herodian. History of the Empire 1.8.4-5, 8, 16.4, 17.4-11;
2.1.3.
Scriptores Historiae Augustae. Commodus 11.9; 17.1—2.
. Didius Julianus 6.2.
. Pertinax 4.5-2.
Balsdon, J. P. V. D. Roman Women. New York: John Day
Comp., 1963, pp. 148-150.
Oxford Classical Dictionary, ed. by Simon Hornblower and
Antony Spawforth. 3d. ed. New York: Oxford Univer-
sity Press, 1996, p. 922.
[a] Marcia Furnilla
(first century c.e.) Roman: Rome
political wife
Marcia Furnilla, the daughter of Antonia Furnilla
and the senator Marcius Barea Sura, married Titus
Flavius Vespasianus after his first wife, Arrecina
Tertulla, died. They had one child, Julia Flavia.
Titus divorced Marcia Furnilla in 64 c.e., before
he became emperor.
Sources
Suetonius. The Lives of the Caesars: Titus 4.2—3.
[a] Marciana, Ulpia
(?-112c.e.)
Roman: Spain, Germany, Italy, and Asia
Augusta; deified
Ulpia Marciana lived with her brother, the emperor
Trajan, most of her adult life. Their parents were
208
Maria
Marcus Ulpius Traianus and a woman named Mar-
cia who probably came from Spain. Before she
moved in with her brother, she had married Matid-
ius, a little-known senator from Vicetia in north-
ern Italy. Her husband came from the heartland of
Antonine support that flourished with her broth-
er's rise to imperial power. After being widowed,
Marciana joined Trajan and his wife Pompeia Plo-
tina in Cologne, where Trajan commanded the
troops on the Rhine before he became emperor. It
was a large household and also included Matidia
(i), Marciana's daughter and a favorite of Trajan
and his wife, and Matidia's two daughters, the half-
sisters Vibia Sabina and Matidia (2).
In 99 c.e. Marciana and her family settled in
Rome with Trajan and Plotina. Trajan spent much
of the early years of his reign away campaigning,
leaving Plotina and Marciana in Rome sometimes
for as long as three years at a time. In his absence
they patronized the leading figures of the day to
encourage the arts and the study of literature and
philosophy. The future emperor Hadrian, adopted
by Trajan, was brought up by the women and mar-
ried Marciana's granddaughter Vibia Sabina in 100.
Ulpia Marciana
(Date: 113 C.E. 1967.153.140, Archives,
American Numismatic Society)
Marciana and Plotina initially refused the Senate's
request to honor them with the title Augusta. Both,
however, accepted in 105. Marciana was the first
woman to receive this honor who was not either the
wife or the daughter of an emperor. In 1 12 Marciana
and Plotina were given the right of coinage. Marci-
ana died that same year. When Plotina died in 122,
Hadrian consecrated both of them.
Sources
Pliny the Younger. Panegyricus 84.
Balsdon, J. P. V. D. Roman Women. New York: John Day
Comp., 1963, pp. 133-136.
Oxford Classical Dictionary, ed. by Simon Hornblower and
Antony Spawforth. 3d. ed. New York: Oxford Univer-
sity Press, 1996, p. 1,570.
Syme, Ronald. Tacitus. 2 vols. Oxford: Clarendon Press,
1958, pp. 231,233, 246, 603.
[a] Maria
(c. 385-407/408 c.e.)
Roman: Rome, Ravenna
political pawn
Maria married the emperor of the West, Honorius,
to assure her parents' political future. Her mother,
Serena, was the favorite niece of Honorius s father,
Theodosius the Great, and her father, Stilicho, was
the emperor's greatest general. She was their oldest
daughter, born in 385; one year earlier than her
future husband, Honorius.
When Theodosius died in 395, he left Stilicho
regent for Honorius, and both the young emperor
and his sister, Galla Placidia, in the care of Ser-
ena. Although Stilicho was regent, it was a position
that would end with Honorius 's majority and leave
him dependent on a young and weak emperor.
Serena, who had always been a favorite of Theodo-
sius and treated as a daughter, also had no assured
future with Honorius. Marriage between the cous-
ins, Maria and Honorius, however, provided Stili-
cho and Serena a place within the intimate family,
even after Honorius came of age. There was also
the possibility of a dynasty. If Stilicho's non-Roman
birth excluded him from becoming emperor, than
he could still become the founder of an imperial
line. Maria's betrothal, in 398 at about 13 years
209
Marina
old, provided for her parents and, potentially, for
the continuity of the empire into the next genera-
tion with children from the young couple.
Marias education included a thorough ground-
ing in orthodox Christianity as well as Greek and
Latin language and literature. Claudian, a leading
poet of the day and a protege of her mother, praised
Marias competence in classical Greek at her wed-
ding celebration. No doubt she was also taught the
rules of deportment for diplomatic life and to man-
age complicated households of slaves, dependents,
extended family, and a constant round of visitors.
Possibly, she also was taught the rudiments of busi-
ness that would allow her to manage distant estates
and income-producing properties.
At the time of their marriage, the Western
empire was in serious peril from the invading Goths
under Alaric. The tried generalship of Stilicho was
invaluable, and his loyalty, assured by Maria, should
have satisfied the fears of the young emperor sur-
rounded by spies, sycophants, and assassins. How-
ever, Honorius was neither a soldier nor talented in
his choice of advisors. Possibly, he was also not a
very good husband. Although no details are known
of Marias life as a wife, there is some evidence that
Honorius was impotent or uninterested and the
marriage was never consummated.
Maria died childless toward the end of 407 or
early 408; shortly thereafter her father was
assassinated.
Sources
Zosimus. New History/Zosimus. A translation with com-
mentary by Ronald T. Ridley. Canberra: Australian
Association of Byzantine Studies, 1982.
Oost, Stewart Irwin. Galla Placidia Augusta: a Biographical
Essay. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire. Vol. II. Edited by
A. H. M. Jones, J. R. Martindale, and J. Morris. Cam-
bridge: Cambridge University Press, 1971. Reprinted
1992, p. 720.
[a] Marina
(403-449 c.e.) Roman: Constantinople
ascetic and political actor
Marina and Arcadia supported their oldest sister,
Pulcheria, and brother, Theodosius II. Orphaned
young, they followed Pulcheria's lead and offered a
public vow of virginity that removed the obliga-
tion to marry. Marina became a significant land-
owner in Constantinople and used her resources to
further the interests of her family.
Marina's father, Arcadius, was the eastern
Roman emperor. Her mother, Augusta Aelia
Eudoxia, was a formidable woman who vigor-
ously defended her dominion. After the death of
Aelia Eudoxia in 404, followed by that of Arcadius
four years later in 408, the Praetorian Prefect
administered the government as regent for the
underage emperor. In 413, the 14-year-old Pulche-
ria made a public declaration of virginity with
Marina and Arcadia while dedicating an altar in
the Great Church at Constantinople. A year later,
Pulcheria was elevated to Augusta by her younger
brother, and she became regent and guardian for
him, Marina, and Arcadia.
Pulcheria introduced an ascetic lifestyle into the
palace. The family fasted twice weekly prayed, and
read from the scriptures. Marina and her sisters
wore modest clothing, eschewed cosmetics, and
spent time in traditional women's arts. Like previous
Christian imperial women, they helped the poor
and sick and provided shelter for the homeless.
Although the outward trappings of their lives
were modest, Marina and Arcadia were satellite
centers of power within the imperial circle. They
entertained visitors from abroad and brought peti-
tions to the attention of Pulcheria and Theodosius.
Marina acquired palatial dwellings in the city and
the suburbs. Her property holdings in one part of
the city were so extensive that the district became
known by her name. Cash rental income from arti-
sans and tradesmen, as well as income in kind and
produce from farms outside the city, filled her cof-
fers and kitchens. She also owned income-produc-
ing estates in the provinces; some of them inherited
from her father and others gifts from her brother.
Marina lived with Pulcheria for most of her life,
even after both left the imperial palace. The house-
hold formed a political as well as economic unit. The
sisters were highly visible in the city and the posi-
tions they held represented an imperial statement.
They were orthodox Christians who adhered to the
Chalcedonian creed that the divine and human
210
Martina
nature of Christ was cojoined yet separate and lead-
ers in the conflict to unseat Nestorius, the bishop of
Constantinople, who challenged their interpretation
of Mary as Mother of God. In the controversy with
Nestorius, Marina, like her sisters, received letters
and calls from both sides entreating support. Marina
and Arcadia were unwavering. They followed their
sister and maintained that Nestorius's position of
Mary as Mother of Christ was heretical and
demeaned the status of women. Nestorius, whose
appointment had not been opposed by the imperial
circle, turned the doctrinal dispute argument into a
political contest. Marina helped Pulcheria success-
fully maintain her imperial authority.
Marina died on August 3, 449.
Sources
Sozomen. Historia Ecclesiastica IX. 1, 3.
Theophanes. Chronicle AM 5901, 5905, 6053, 6054,
6057.
Holum, Kenneth. Theodosian Empresses: Women and Impe-
rial Dominion in Late Antiquity. Berkeley: University of
California Press, 1982.
[a] Marsa
(?-early fifth century C.E.)
Roman: Constantinople
political player
Marsa, along with Eugraphia and Castricia,
were intimates of Augusta Aelia Eudoxia, wife of
the emperor Arcadius. Marsa's husband Flavius
Promotus held the post of Master of Soldiers in the
East and was consul in 389. Eudoxia, whose father
held the position comparable to Marsa's husband
in the West, had been sent to Constantinople as a
girl to live with Marsa and her family. She grew up
with Marsa's two sons and met her future husband
Arcadius through them.
Marsa's husband quarreled with Flavius Rufi-
nus, who was the Praetorian Prefect of the East
and who dominated the weak emperor Arcadius.
At one point, it came to blows, and Flavius Pro-
motus struck Rufinus in the face. Rufinus per-
suaded Arcadius to transfer Promotus to Thrace,
where he was killed in 391 by barbarians, perhaps
at the instigation of Rufinus. Marsa remained in
Constantinople, a political ally of Eudoxia. She
played a supporting role in Eudoxia's opposition to
John Chrysostom, bishop of Constantinople.
John Chrysostom had been appointed bishop
of the city in 398. Faced with widespread poverty
and the extraordinary wealth of the privileged few,
he began to preach against the ostentatious life. In
403, Chrysostom lashed out against wealthy older
widows, claiming their fancy hair made them look
more like streetwalkers than proper women. Marsa
and her circle considered this a direct attack and
determined to end Chrysostom's tenure. They
enlisted Eudoxia, whom he also had offended by
suggesting that women had no place in public life,
and allied themselves with bishops and monks to
whom Chrysostom had been no more gracious.
Chrysostom went into exile in 404.
The exact dates of Marsa's birth and death
remain unknown.
Sources
Palladius. Dialogue 4. 8.
Socrates. Historia EcclesiasticaVl. 15. 1—3.
Zosimus. New History/Zosimus. Translation and commen-
tary by Ronald T. Ridley. Canberra: Australian Associa-
tion for Byzantine Studies, 1982, 5, 23, 2; 8.16. 1-2.
Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire. Vol. II. Edited by
A. H. M. Jones, J. R. Martindale, and J. Morris. Cam-
bridge: Cambridge University Press, 1971. Reprinted
1992, p. 72.
[a] Martina
(? B.c.E-19/20 c.e.) Syrian: Syria and Italy
poisoner
Martina, well known for her skill with poisons,
became a suspect in 19 c.e. after the sudden
death of Germanicus Julius Caesar, the popular
general and probable heir to Tiberius. Martina
was a client and possibly even a friend of Muna-
tia Plancina, the wife of Gnaeus Calpurnius
Piso, consul in 7 b.c.e. and political opponent of
Germanicus. She appears to have been with
Munatia, who had accompanied her husband to
the East, when he was sent by Tiberius to temper
Germanicus's aggressive policies. Piso and Ger-
manicus were soon at odds. So too were Munatia
211
Matidia (1)
and the elder Agrippina, Germanicus's wife. After
Germanicus's death, Agrippina carried his ashes
back to Rome convinced that her husband had
died from poison in a plot supported, if not
arranged, by the emperor.
In Rome charges were brought against Munatia
and Piso, who returned under guard after soldiers
friendly to Germanicus had seized them in the
East. Martina was also sent back to Rome to testify
at the trial. She died on her arrival in Italy. Her
death further inflamed passions on both sides.
Although no poison was found on her body, some
claimed that she had hidden the poison in her
hair.
Sources
Dio Cassius. Roman History 57.18.6—10.
Tacitus. Annates 2.74; 3.7.
Levick, Barbara. Tiberius the Politician. London: Thames
and Hudson, 1976, pp. 96-97, 103-104.
(D Matidia (I)
(68-119 c.e.)
Roman: Italy, Asia, and Germany
Augusta; deified
Matidia lived in the multigenerational household of
the emperor Trajan. Born no later than 68 c.e., she
was the only child of Trajan's older sister Ulpia Mar-
ciana and Matidius, an obscure senator from north-
ern Italy. Her first marriage seems to have been to a
man named Mindius of whom nothing is known.
She gave birth to a daughter named Matidia (2).
She then married Lucius Vibius Sabinus, consul in
97 c.e., and they had a daughter, Vibia Sabina. Her
husband died shortly after his consulship, and she
moved with her daughters and her mother into the
household of Trajan and Pompeia Plotina.
Matidia was honored with the title Augusta by
Trajan. While her daughter Sabina, who had mar-
ried the future emperor Hadrian in 100 c.e.,
remained in Rome, Matidia and Hadrian accom-
panied Trajan and Plotina on the campaign to the
East in 114. Three years later, in 117, Trajan
became ill and died in Syria. A letter of Trajan's
named Hadrian his adopted son and heir. Rumors
circulated about the authenticity of the letter. Plo-
Matidia (I)
(Date: 115 C.E.-//7 C.E. 1001.112738, Archives,
American Numismatic Society)
tina and Matidia, however, supported the soldiers'
acclamation of Hadrian as the new emperor.
Hadrian, who was campaigning in Syria, met them
in Antioch and sent Plotina and Matidia to Rome
with Trajan's ashes.
Although Hadrian's marriage was difficult, he
remained close with his mother-in-law. When she
died in 119, Hadrian gave the funeral oration and
deified her. He also issued coins in her honor with
the epithet "Diva Augusta Matidia." She was prob-
ably the first woman deified by the emperors to
have a temple in Rome.
Sources
Dio Cassius. Roman History 69.1.
Scriptores Historiae Augustae. Hadrian 5.9; 9.9; 19.5.
Balsdon, J. P. V. D. Roman Women. New York: John Day
Comp., 1963, pp. 133-139.
Birley, Anthony Richard. Marcus Aurelius: Emperor of Rome.
Boston: Little, Brown, 1966, p. 241.
Oxford Classical Dictionary, ed. by Simon Hornblower and
Antony Spawforth. 3d. ed. New York: Oxford Univer-
sity Press, 1996, p. 937.
Pauly, A., G. Wissowa, and W. Kroll. Real-Encyclopadie
D. Classischen Altertumswissenschaft 1893— (Germany:
multiple publishers) 28.
212
Melania the Elder
(D Matidia (2)
(first-second century c.E.)
Roman: Italy, Asia, Germany, and Egypt
never married
Matidia was an extremely unusual woman in a
society where nearly everyone, man and woman,
married at least once. She never married. Matidia
grew up with her mother, half sister, and grand-
mother in the household of Pompeia Plotina
and the emperor Marcus Ulpius Trajan. Her
mother was the only child of Ulpia Marciana,
the eldest sister of the Trajan. Matidia's half sister,
Vibia Sabina, became the wife of the emperor
Hadrian.
Matidia shared a taste for cultured life with her
mother, Marciana, and Plotina. In latter life she
was close to her great-nephew Marcus Aurelius
and when he was emperor, his daughters some-
times stayed with her. At her death, she left
bequests of a million sesterces to some members of
her family and associates. The money was to be
administered by the younger Annia Galeria Faus-
tina, the wife of the emperor, and distributed at
the rate of 50,000 sesterces a year.
Like many wealthy women who remained
childless, she attracted a number of hangers-on
who hoped to be remembered in her will. They
persuaded her to include a number of codicils. As
she lay unconscious, on her deathbed some took
the opportunity to seal the codicils, thereby assur-
ing their validity. Over half of her estate became
encumbered and was assigned to nonfamily mem-
bers, an illegal condition under the provisions of
Lex Falcidia.
The bequests grew into a contentious issue.
Marcus Cornelius Fronto, orator, former tutor,
and close friend of Marcus Aurelius, sought a solu-
tion. He expressed particular concern about the
jewels, especially Matidia's valuable pearls. Faus-
tina, the emperor's wife, refused to buy the pearls
or any of the other jewelry. Fronto surmised that
she feared being accused of buying them cheaply.
Finally, Aurelius washed his hands of the matter
and turned over the problem of the will and jewels
to his co-emperor, Lucius Verus.
Sources
Fronto. Epistulae pp. 95-99.
Birley, Anthony Richard. Marcus Aurelius: Emperor of Rome.
Boston: Little, Brown, 1966, pp. 132, 241.
[a] Melania the Elder
(c. 340-c. 410 c.e.)
Roman: Spain, Italy, Egypt, Palestine
ascetic
Melania lived a varied and rich life. She was an
intellectually and physically fearless woman who
risked her life and her honor for what she believed.
Fully engaged, she left her mark on everyone she
met. Melania lived at the forefront of the emerging
Christian ascetic movement in the fourth century.
She embraced the ascetic life with enormous gusto,
relishing the deprivation of bathing and the luxuri-
ous living she abandoned. She also eschewed a life
of solitary confinement or a communal life with
only virgin women and widows and traveled
widely, mingling with leading thinkers and reli-
gious figures. Although she was a great admirer of
Origen, she did not attack those who held ortho-
dox opinions contrary to her own. Melania was
more interested in converting pagans to Christian-
ity than splitting the church with heresies.
Melania was the granddaughter of Antonius
Marcellinus, consul in 341. The name of her hus-
band remains unknown. Born in Spain, at 14 years
old she married and soon moved to Rome. Eight
years later when she was 22, her husband and two
of her three sons died of the same illness. In
November 372, she left her remaining son, Vale-
rius Publicola, in Rome, took all her movable
goods, and sailed to Alexandria where she sold
everything and became an ascetic.
Not unexpectedly her relatives, possibly on both
sides of the family, were furious. She had carried
away a part of the family wealth, while they were
probably jockeying for position to gain control over
the young widow and the money. In a social and eco-
nomic environment where inheritance was one of
the principal roads to wealth, her usurpation of the
movable goods and their subsequent sale diminished
the total wealth available to everyone connected
213
Melania the Elder
with her. Nor was the fourth century a time when
new assets were easily created. The Goths were
threatening Italy and the Vandals Spain. Scarcely a
generation later, Rome fell to Alaric and Spain to
the Vandals.
Leaving aside some suspicion that Melania left
Rome precipitously to avoid the family using their
influence either to stop her or establish claim to
her wealth, she was possibly a cannier woman of
business than has been thought. Alexandria was a
good destination. It was a major trading center and
well equipped for buying and selling objects,
including gold or silver. Alexandria had another
attraction. It was at the edge of the desert, where
the new ascetic movement was burgeoning. From
the perspective of economics as well as her future
religious life, Melania may have seen more advan-
tage in sailing for Egypt than defending her wealth
in court against her family in Italy.
Melania possessed vast income-producing
estates in Italy, Spain, Africa, Gaul, and Britain. As
a widow, she probably had absolute control over
the portion of her family's properties that she
inherited or that had been her dowry. If she was
regent for her son, she also probably held legal
control over the inheritance that would be his on
attaining his majority. Her annual income would
be the sum of these properties, including the profit
from slave workshops, whatever monies she had
that were loaned out, or in modern terms, invested
in operations she did not necessarily own but
financed, as well as income from urban properties
with rentals for shops and apartments. If she were
more speculative, she might also have had an inter-
est in mines and even the risk capital pools estab-
lished for shipping.
Before and after arriving in Alexandria, Melania
provided amply for her son. She also sold estates in
Italy, Spain, Africa, and Gaul and used the income
for charitable and religious purposes. Her distribu-
tion of funds to the poor may have further encour-
aged some of her family to seek control over her
inheritance. From their perspective, simply to give
money away outside of the family or to those dis-
tantly connected with the family would be evi-
dence of an inability to manage affairs.
Melania saw a different world. Wealth was the
weight that held her earthbound when she wanted
to soar. She adopted a personally severe lifestyle.
She wore the coarsest clothing, ate the simplest
food sparingly, fasted, and eschewed all other com-
forts. When she was 60, she boasted that over the
past decades she had washed only her fingertips
and had never been transported in a litter or slept
in a bed. The chronicler Palladius and her cousin,
Paulinus of Nola, praised her masculine qualities;
they found it difficult to believe a woman could
endure such an ascetic life. However, her asceti-
cism was neither male nor female, it rested on the
irrelevance of bodily comfort to the joy of her dis-
covery of the spiritual self.
Melania traveled from Alexandria to Mount
Nitria in the Egyptian desert where she spent about
six months. She met with monks of renown,
including Dioscorus, bishop of Hermopolis,
Isidore the Confessor, and four monks known as
the Tall Brothers. Many of those she met had been
banished for their orthodoxy by the Arian bishop
of Alexandria. Melania used her own money to
supply their needs, and since they were without
serving women, in the evenings she served them
herself. The Roman consul of Palestine unknow-
ingly imprisoned her, finding her in the company
of the banished man, and sought a bribe for her
release. Indignant, Melania reverted to her posture
of proud and arrogant Roman and informed him
of her illustrious background. He apologized and
released her.
In 375, many of the orthodox in exile were
allowed to return and Melania went to Jerusalem
where she lived for 27 years. She still had enough
funds for building projects and charity. When her
funds were unavailable or insufficient, however,
she had no hesitation about soliciting more from
family and friends, including the son she left
behind. In 379, she built a monastery that brought
50 widows and young women virgins together in
communal life. It became a stopping place for
innumerable bishops, monks, other church offi-
cials, and male and female visitors who came on
pilgrimage to Jerusalem. The elder Paula and
Jerome, who were among her visitors, received
214
Melania the Elder
information that helped them establish their own
communities on the Mount of Olives.
Melania read widely and was attracted to the
works of the Christian thinker Origen. Nor did
she read casually: She studied the texts and was
committed to the distribution of Christian ideas
and learning through the written word. Tyranius
Rufinus of Aquileia, a translator of the works of
Origen, whom she had met in the Egyptian desert,
joined her Jerusalem. They distributed money to
churches, monasteries, prisoners, and refugees, as
well as providing shelters for travelers for some 1 8
years. Melania also built him a monastery for men
on the Mount of Olives in which he trained monks
as copyists.
Melania's religious beliefs were tinged with Ori-
genism, which deviated from strict orthodoxy. Her
generosity of spirit found an echo in Origen. Not
only did he offer everyone the promise of ultimate
salvation, but his position also promised women
an end of the burden of Eve's sin. Not surprisingly,
Melania also sought to moderate conflicts over
doctrine among the bishops, although on more
than one occasion she participated in the defense
of her beliefs and of those in whom she believed.
In 394, bitter controversy broke out when Epipha-
nius, the bishop of Salamis in Cyprus, attacked
Origen in a sermon that he preached while visiting
Jerusalem. The contretemps, related by Jerome,
lasted at least three years and grew increasingly
complicated. It became almost farcelike, with an
unwilling ordination and a secret intercepted let-
ter. After several appeals to authority, Melania and
Rufinus helped smooth both sides, and a peaceful
compromise became possible.
The late fourth century was followed by even
more difficult times. Word reached Melania in
Jerusalem that the writings of Origen were under
attack in Rome and that her granddaughter and
husband, the younger Melania and Pinianus,
were faced with family opposition about adopting
an ascetic life and selling their estates. She hastened
to Rome, traveling as far as Italy with her friend
Rufinus who later met up with her in Rome. It was
sometime in 402 when Melania landed in Naples
where her family waited, including her son Public-
ola and his wife, the younger Albina, and the
younger Melania and Pinianus. They visited Pauli-
nus of Nola, who lived nearby, before proceeding
on to Rome. He remarked on the sight of Melania
wearing simple garments and sitting on a tiny thin
horse smaller than a donkey, accompanied by the
decorated horses and litters with gilded side-cloths
shielding wealthy women dressed in silk clothing.
She lived with her family in Rome for several
years during which she encouraged the younger
Melania and her husband toward an increasingly
ascetic lifestyle. She also acted as an intermediary
with their parents and extended families in discus-
sions about their life choices.
The interpretation of the works of Origen
reached a critical eruption during this period that
turned Jerome, who had long been a friend, visitor,
and admirer of Melania, into a lifelong enemy.
Origen had developed a Christian Neoplatonism
which integrated the pagan philosophy with Chris-
tian faith. The doctrine presented many with an
appealing union. He also established a hierarchy
that had a satisfying clarity. God was supreme.
Christ the son was a second God, ranked below
the father and embodying logos (wisdom). The
Holy Spirit was within the Saints, which ranked
below Christ but a cut above everyone else. Even-
tually everyone created by God would be redeemed,
including the devil. Free will allowed choice but it
precluded the permanent choice of evil.
Some began to call Origenism a heresy. Jerome,
who once had been an admirer and had translated
some of Origen's work from Greek into Latin, now
distanced himself from his earlier praise. When
Rufinus published a translation of one of Origen's
works in which he repeated in the preface some
admiring words that Jerome had once written,
Jerome became incensed and broke off relations
with Rufinus and Melania, who strongly supported
her partner. He never forgave her, and, after her
death, Jerome referred to her as perfidious and
would not even mention her name.
His attack on Melania was a sophistic exercise
and disproportionate to the circumstances. Over
many years Melania had freely given of herself and
her wealth. Jerome had accepted her largesse and
215
Melania the Younger
praised her goodness. In a letter to Asella, written
in 385, he praised her behavior after the tragic
deaths of her husband and two children. In another
letter he again praised her, this time for her moder-
ation, since she neither had rent her clothes nor
cried out and unbound her hair, but tearless when
faced with tragedy, vowed to serve Christ. To some
degree, however, Melania prevailed. The younger
Melania and Pinianus retained their friendship
with Rufinus, Palladius, and Paulinus of Nola, all
of whom were Origenists in Jerome's eyes.
It is not clear when Melania left Rome, although
it was probably before 406 since her son was still
alive and he was known to have died by the end of
the year. Possibly her business acumen once more
served her well. At some point she went to Sicily,
where she sold her remaining property. It was none
too soon, since by 408 Alaric and his Goths were
at the gates of Rome. She was in Africa when she
received word of her son's death in 406. She
returned to Jerusalem, disbursed the rest of her
money, and died in 410.
Sources
Jerome. Letter XXX 9; XLV 4, CXXXIII 3.
Palladius. The Lausiac History XLVI, LIV 54.
Paulinus of Nola. Letter 29.
Clark, Elizabeth A. "The Lady Vanishes: Dilemmas of a
Feminist Historian after the Linguistic Turn." Church
History 67, no. 1 (March 1998): 14-31.
Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire. Vol. I. Edited by
A. H. M. Jones, J. R. Martindale, and J. Morris. Cam-
bridge: Cambridge University Press, 1971. Reprinted
1992, pp. 592-593.
[b] Melania the Younger
(c. 383-December 31, 439 c.e.)
Roman: Rome, Sicily, Africa, Palestine
ascetic
Melania admired her grandmother, the elder
Melania, and at very early age determined to live
a life patterned on hers. Her grandmother was not
an easy woman to emulate. She lived life with
gusto, although a Christian ascetic. She flaunted
custom, although when necessary she behaved as
an arrogant Roman aristocrat, and she used her
wealth to fund her causes, despite the pleas of her
family. The younger Melania, however, was suc-
cessful in her quest. Using tragedy and opportu-
nity to her advantage, she lived in a chaste marriage,
confounded custom, traveled widely, studied
Christian texts, and played an active role in the
extraordinary happenings of her times.
Melania came from a mixed Christian/pagan
family, which was not uncommon among the
Roman aristocracy of the time. Melania's father
was Valerius Publicola, the sole surviving child of
the elder Melania. Her mother, the younger
Albina, was a devout Christian and member of
the patrician Caeionii clan that was a political and
economic force in Rome. Melania's grandfather,
Ceionius Rufinus Albinus, had been prefect of
Rome from 389-391. He may have been pagan,
and her uncle, the eminent Rufius Volusianus,
converted to Christianity on his deathbed.
In 397, at age 14, Melania married the 17-year-
old Pinianus. His views on the marriage are
unknown, but she was not happy. Although an
extremely suitable match that brought together
two young people from similar backgrounds,
Melania did not want to marry. It was unlikely
that her parents forced her into marriage and in
fact was not legally possible. Rather, she was young,
and, it was probable that, despite her pleas to
remain unmarried and live an ascetic life, her fam-
ily offered many reasonable arguments about the
suitability of the match, the importance of the
union for the future of both families, and the
assurance that she would find her life as a married
woman and mother rich and fulfilling.
Melania gave birth to a girl and then a boy. Both
died. There must have been enormous anticipation
and great sadness. The children's deaths confirmed
Melania's belief that her destiny was to follow in the
path of her grandmother. She implored her hus-
band to allow her to live the chaste life that she so
ardently desired. She offered to honor and follow
him if he would choose an ascetic life and practice
chastity in their marriage. If this was not his choice,
however, she offered him his freedom and the
dowry she had brought with her. She argued with
her resistant husband passionately that had God
216
Melania the Younger
wished them to have children, the children would
not have died. Pinianus could not long withstand
the despair that affected her health.
Melania's parents, especially her father, argued
against their adoption of celibacy. Nor was the
young couple's decision approved by other rela-
tives, friends, and associated peers. Melania was an
only child, and their decision effectively ended the
family line, which had an illustrious history of
consuls and praetorian prefects. Pinianus's brother
Valerius was incensed at their intention to devote
their wealth to the poor. The times were not good,
and perhaps he viewed the couple's generosity as a
wanton dissipation of the family assets to people
they neither knew nor for whom they held any
obligations or responsibilities. Insofar as family
wealth was corporate, regardless of who held the
legal title in any one generation, the wealth could
be understood as belonging as much to Valerius
and Valerius's children as to Pinianus and his.
As it happened, Melania and Pinianus were not
yet 25. They could choose celibacy, but they were
below the minimum age to divest family property
under their own authority. Her father, and reluc-
tantly her mother, instituted a suit to stop attempts
to liquidate or donate family property. They had
the support of the extended families, whose con-
flicting loyalties and contentious relationships were
subsumed to the collective interest in maintaining
the combined families' wealth.
Melania and Pinianus were not deterred. They
evolved a gradualist approach. Melania wore plain
coarse garments. She transformed her silk robes into
coverings for church altars and adapted other gar-
ments for use as religious ornamentation. She also
increased her periods of fasting. Her husband, who
found it more difficult to adopt an ascetic life,
adopted coarse garments following Melania's lead
and pressure. Together they visited the sick and poor,
as well as prisoners and those working in mines.
They also welcomed travelers into their house.
Melania's grandmother, who had lived in Jeru-
salem for the past 27 years, heard about the cou-
ple's efforts to lead an ascetic life and to withstand
family opposition. The news came at about the
same time as controversy over the possibly hereti-
cal nature of the Christian thinker Origen's work
surfaced in Rome. The elder Melania had long
been attracted to Origen's work, and her close
companion in Jerusalem was Tyrannius Rufinus of
Aquileia, the foremost translator of Origen from
Greek to Latin. The elder Melania decided the
time had come to return to Rome. In Italy she was
welcomed by the whole family — her son, Public-
ola, and daughter-in-law, the younger Albina, and
her granddaughter, the younger Melania and her
granddaughter's husband, Pinianus. They traveled
to Rome where the elder Melania stayed with the
family until her return to Africa sometime before
Publicola's death in 406. While in Rome, the elder
Melania strengthened the young couple's resolve
and also urged her son and daughter-in-law to
moderate their opposition. Publicola relented just
before his death and gave his support to the young
couple. After his death, the widowed Albina, who
was always a reluctant opponent, joined her daugh-
ter in a celibate life.
Melania, Pinianus, and Albina moved out of
their palatial residence to a more modest villa on the
Appian Way. However, they were still threatened
with suits from their extended families. The Roman
elite were relatively few in number and the city
small. The networks of relationship among the two
extended families dominated the Senate and the
courts in the city. The couple appealed directly to
the emperor through Serena in whose household
the young emperor Honorius had grown up. No
doubt Melania and her husband, as well as Albina,
had on occasion found themselves in the same com-
pany as Serena. She too was a Christian and, even
though the politics of the senatorial elite were often
in opposition, sometimes deadly opposition, with
the emperor, in many instances they shared class
interests. In fact, Pinianus had offered to sell Serena
the palatial house from which he had only recently
moved with Melania and his mother-in-law.
Serena secured from the emperor the necessary
authority to liquidate family estates. The emperor
allowed them to dispose of their property through-
out the empire and also ordered the governors and
prefects of the provinces in which they held estates to
sell the properties for them and remit the proceeds
217
Melania the Younger
directly to them. It was all that the couple needed. It
not only gave them full authority but also elimi-
nated the possibility that they or an agent would
have to personally travel to the provinces, finalize
the transfers, and arrange for the payment transfers.
They began the liquidation of their discretionary
assets and the sale of estates immediately. It was a
complicated task. The two together were probably
among the richest Romans with an annual income
estimated by the ancient author and contemporary
Gerontius as approximately 120,000 pieces of gold,
which would have a probable equivalency of about
1,666 pounds of gold in modern terms. One estate,
near Rome, included a palatial villa and 62 settle-
ments, each inhabited by some 400 slaves. In all,
Melania freed 8,000 slaves in Rome. Others threat-
ened revolt and refused to be sold. Those she gave to
Pinianuss brother for three coins. In addition to Ital-
ian estates in Campania, they also had properties in
Sicily, Africa, Spain, Britain, Gaul, and North Africa,
all of which were income producing and mostly
profitable.
They distributed their movable goods to the
poor. They gave some 100,000 coins through vari-
ous emissaries to be spent on charitable enterprises.
Additionally, Melania sent 10,000 pieces of gold
and silver to Egypt and adjacent provinces, 10,000
pieces of gold to churches on various islands,
10,000 to Antioch and vicinity, and 15,000 to Pal-
estine. She also made large donations to a variety
of places in the West.
Melania was perhaps as astute a businesswoman
as her grandmother. In 408—409, along with her
husband and mother, she left for Sicily, having
held on to their properties in Sicily, Spain, and
Africa. They had sold out as the Italian political sit-
uation rapidly deteriorated. Alaric and his army of
Goths were en route to Rome, Stilicho had been
executed by Honorius, and their protector, Serena,
had been strangled by orders of the Roman Senate.
The pagan prefect of Rome, with the approval of
the Senate, decided to confiscate Melania and Pin-
ianuss remaining property in the city. Although
the prefect was killed before he could execute the
order, destruction by the Goths two years later
resulted in the loss of any unsold property.
Their trip to Sicily was eventful. Blown off
course to an island where the inhabitants of the
city were being held for ransom, they paid 2,500
gold coins toward the sum demanded by the
attackers, along with an extra 500 gold coins and
provisions to relieve the dire situation within the
city. In Sicily, Melania and Albina lived with some
60 free or freedwomen, of whom some were her
own former slaves. Pinianus lived with 30 men. He
spent his time reading, gardening, and holding
conferences with visiting holy men. They also con-
tinued to liquidate property and sold most of their
estates in Numidia and Mauritania but retained
those in Spain, where invasions had temporarily
overwhelmed the land market.
In 410, as Alaric invaded Rome, the couple left
Sicily for North Africa and their estates at Tha-
gaste, not far from Carthage, in the bishopric of
Alypius, renowned for his knowledge of the scrip-
tures. Nearby was Hippo and the bishop Augus-
tine whom they were also eager to meet. As with
many of their properties, the estate at Thagaste was
larger than the nearby city. In addition to the cen-
tral villa and outbuildings, it housed a resident
population of freed and enslaved workers, includ-
ing craftsmen expert in working gold, silver, and
copper. Soon after their arrival, Melania, Pinianus,
and Albina visited Hippo. Their wealth and gener-
osity excited the community who filled the church.
The congregation demanded that Augustine ordain
Pinianus, which they believed would commit him
to a donation. Augustine refused unless Pinianus
consented and added that he would leave his post
of bishop rather than engage in a forced ordina-
tion. When the congregation became unruly,
Melania and her mother felt physically threatened.
The three returned to Thagaste unhappy and
angry.
Pinianus sent a message to Augustine threaten-
ing to leave Africa if he were ordained against his
will. A compromise was reached. Pinianus agreed
to reside in Hippo, should he decide to be ordained.
Alypius, who had the interests of his own bishopric
to contend with, refused to join Augustine in the
compromise. There was further negotiation, and in
the end Melania demanded that Augustine not
218
Melania the Younger
sign the compromise agreement. Augustine, how-
ever, wrote Albina a long letter in which he
explained, if not justified, the behavior of the con-
gregation as well as his own ambiguities about the
need to seek support from wealthy Christians for
the benefit of the church and the poor.
Poverty and heresy consumed Augustine's time.
The area of Thagaste and Hippo were poor.
Although still untouched by the Goths, the agri-
cultural and urban infrastructure had been declin-
ing for several generations. Independent landowners
had all but disappeared, and land had devolved
into estates like that owned by Melania and Pinia-
nus, who, until the capture of Rome in 410, had
largely been absentee landlords. Not only was pov-
erty rife, but there was no Christian unity. The
Donatist church was everywhere. Donatism arose
in the Diocletian persecutions at the end of the
third century when passionate Christians willingly
suffered and even died for their faith. The succes-
sors of these passionate Christians became a sect
with ordained bishops and churches. Their adher-
ents maintained a strong appeal among the poor
and championed independence from imperial
authority. Efforts at reconciliation with the main-
stream orthodox community were rebuffed or
botched. Donatists dominated in many of the
places around Carthage, and Augustine's opposi-
tion notwithstanding, they were sufficiently force-
ful that before Melania and Pinianus donated their
estate at Thagaste to the traditional orthodox
church, they also established two bishops on the
property, one orthodox and the second Donatist.
Melania, Pinianus, and Albina remained at Tha-
gaste for approximately four years. They built two
large monasteries, one for women and the other
for men. Urged by Alypius, Augustine, and the
bishop of Carthage, they also endowed them. In
the women's monastery Melania and Albina lived
with 130 virgin women and widows, and Pinianus
lived with 80 men. During their stay, Melania
became more rigorous in her asceticism and began
longer fasts accompanied with repeated readings of
the Latin and Greek scriptures. She also directed
the women residents, who followed a strict regi-
men of deportment and prayers.
In 414, disregarding the compromise oath by
Pinianus, they left Thagaste, never to return. On
their way to Jerusalem, they stopped in Alexandria,
where they were welcomed by Cyril, the bishop of
the city. After their arrival in Jerusalem in 417,
Melania and Albina lived together in cells for pil-
grims attached to the Church of the Holy Sepul-
cher. They sold their remaining property in Spain
and used the money to travel back to Egypt and
visit the ascetics who lived in the desert. Following
in the footsteps of her grandmother, they went
into the mountains of Nitria and distributed
money everywhere.
Upon return to Jerusalem, Melania shut herself
away in a small cell made of wood on the Mount
of Olives that she had earlier asked her mother to
prepare. There she stayed each year from January
through Easter for 14 years, rarely seeing anyone
except her mother and husband. The rest of the
year, she lived in Jerusalem with her mother, until
she had a monastery constructed where she stayed
for some 1 1 years with women selected by Pinia-
nus. The monastery had its own cistern and ora-
tory for prayers. Reminiscent of the younger
Macrina, Melania chose not to direct the institu-
tion but devoted herself to teaching and providing
the example of a holy life.
In 432, Pinianus died and Melania retreated to
a solitary life. After some four years, she built a
monastery for ascetic men by securing funds from
an anonymous donor. In 436, her uncle Rufius
Volusianus notified her by letter that he was going
to Constantinople to assist in the marriage arrange-
ments of Licinia Eudoxia, the daughter of the
Augusta Aelia Eudocia, to the emperor in the
West, Valentinian III. Melania set off for Constan-
tinople ostensibly to convert her pagan uncle to
Christianity. The overland trip of some 1,200 miles
on animals provided by the state took approxi-
mately 40 days.
On her arrival, she found Volusianus seriously
ill. Fearful he would die unbaptized, she threat-
ened to tell the emperor about his condition. She
also sent for Proclus, the bishop of Constantinople,
who convinced him to accept baptism. Volusianus
died in January 437, with Melania at his bedside.
219
Melinno
Melania remained in Constantinople and mourned
her uncle's death for 40 days. She became an inti-
mate of Aelia Eudocia, who was delighted with her
renowned holy visitor. Eudocia expressed her desire
to make a pilgrimage to Palestine. Eudocia's daugh-
ter had married and left to live in Ravenna, and
she felt a growing estrangement from Theodosius.
Melania convinced the emperor that a trip for
Eudocia was an ideal arrangement for everyone.
Melania left for Jerusalem in February 437, on
an arduous journey in which the travelers encoun-
tered heavy snow and extreme cold but reached the
city in time to celebrate Easter. She had a small
martyrion built on the Mount of Olives to house
the bones of Saint Stephen. Word arrived that
Eudocia was arriving in Palestine, and Melania
went to meet her at Sidon on the coast. Eudocia
announced that she had come to pray at the Holy
Places and to see her "mother" Melania. When
Eudocia left the city, Melania escorted her as far as
Caeserea. Melania knew her death was near and
went to celebrate the Nativity in Bethlehem, after
bidding farewell to the women and men in her
monastery. She died on December 31, 439.
Sources
Augustine. Letters CXXIV, CXXV, CXXVI.
Gerontius. The Life of Melania the Younger. Introduction,
translation and commentary by Elizabeth A. Clark.
New York: The Edwin Mellon Press, 1984.
Palladius. The Lausiac History 54, 61.
Socrates. Historia Ecclesiastica VII. 47.
Brown, Peter. Augustine of Hippo: A Biography. Berkeley:
University of California Press, 1967, 2000, index.
Clark, Elizabeth A. "The Lady Vanishes: Dilemmas," pp.
14-31.
Jones, A. H. M. The Later Roman Empire, 284-602 Vol.
II, p. 787.
O'Donnell, James J. Augustine: a New Biography. New
York: HarperCollins, 2005, index.
Melinno
(second century b.c.e.)
poet
Greek: Italy
Melinno was a Greek poet who wrote in a Doric
dialect most probably during the first half of the
second century b.c.e. Possibly she lived in one of
the Greek cities in southern Italy, all of which
came under Roman control after the defeat of Pyr-
rhus in the middle of the third century.
She composed a hymn to the power of Rome in
five Sapphic stanzas. In it she depicted warlike
Rome, the conqueror of the world, as a goddess
who was the daughter of Ares, father of the Ama-
zons. Nothing is known about her personal life.
Sources
Bowra, C. M. "Melinno's Hymn to Rome," Journal of
Roman History 47 (1957) pp. 21-28.
Oxford Classical Dictionary, ed. by Simon Hornblower and
Antony Spawforth. 3d. ed. New York: Oxford Univer-
sity Press, 1996, p. 953.
[a] Melissa
(late seventh century b.c.e.) Greek: Greece
murder victim
Melissa was the daughter of Proclus, the ruler of
Epidaurus in Greece. She married Periander, the
tyrant of Corinth. He fell in love with her after see-
ing her body revealed through her dress while she
was pouring wine for workmen in a field. He mur-
dered her in a fit of jealously and in despair made
love to her dead body.
Periander sent a messenger to Thesprotia to
consult the oracle of the dead on Acheron, pre-
sumed to be the entrance to Hades. He sought the
whereabouts of a pledge given to him by a stranger.
Melissa was said to have appeared and refused to
reveal information about the pledge. She claimed
to be cold in the clothing with which she was bur-
ied that had not been burned. As proof of who she
was, she sent a message to Periander revealing
knowledge that he had had sex with her dead
body.
Periander ordered all the married women of
Corinth, including slaves, to go to the temple of
Hera and remove their clothing. The garments
were then burned in a pit while he called out the
name of Melissa. He then sent a second messenger
to the oracle, and Melissa's ghost was assuaged.
Sources
Athenaeus. Deipnosophistae 589 ff.
Herodotus. The Persian Wars 3.50; 5.92.
220
Messallina, Valeria
Blundell, Sue. Women in Ancient Greece. London: British
Museum Press, 1995, p. 68.
Pomeroy, Sarah B. Goddesses, Whores, Wives, and Slaves:
Women in Classical Antiquity. New York: Schocken
Books, 1975, p. 35.
[a] Messallina, Valeria
(c. 20^8 c.e.) Roman: Rome
power broker
Valeria Messallina died condemned and notorious.
Smart, beautiful, arrogant, ruthless, even cruel,
and certainly seductive, she sought to secure her
position in the face of a disapproving Senate and a
powerful group of imperial freedmen who domi-
nated the reign of her husband, the emperor
Claudius. Her parents Domitia Lepida and Mes-
salla Barbatus linked her with the greatest houses
of the old republic, and on both sides she was a
Julian, a descendant of Octavia (2) and a descen-
dant of the emperor Augustus. Messallina was
somewhere between 14 and 20 years old in 38 or
39 c.e. when she married the 48-year-old Claudius,
after he divorced his second wife, Aelia Paetina.
In a society that prized above all men's military
prowess and idealized the male body, the young
and beautiful Messallina's future was linked with
her far-from-ideal second cousin who since birth
had suffered from a form of palsy that affected his
walk and caused a speech impairment.
Claudius had not been expected to become
emperor. The many legitimate candidates seemed
to assure that there would be no problems of suc-
cession after the death of his uncle Tiberius.
Claudius's physical condition was perceived as an
unalterable barrier by Augustus, his grandmother
LrviA Drusilla, and Tiberius. Livia persuaded her
husband to consult with Tiberius as to the part
Claudius should play in public life. A decision was
made to carefully circumscribe his public appear-
ances so as to protect Claudius and themselves
from possible ridicule. One by one, however, pos-
sible successors to Tiberius died, leaving only the
young Gaius Caligula and the infant Nero. Calig-
ula succeeded Tiberius, but after Caligula was
murdered, the unanticipated happened. Amid the
general disorder and looting, Claudius was found
by a soldier hiding in the palace in fear for his life.
He was taken to the praetorian camp and declared
emperor by the Praetorian Guard, even as the Sen-
ate sat in debate over the restoration of the
republic.
Claudius became emperor in January 41, three
years after his marriage with Messallina. They
already had a daughter, Claudia Octavia, and
Messallina was some seven or eight months' preg-
nant with a son, Britannicus. In an uncertain
world, the less-than-perfect Claudius and Messal-
lina were raised to power by the troops and the
myths of their lineage, but without the support of
many, if not most, of the Senate. Claudius ruled
through a small and increasingly powerful clique
of freedmen — Narcissus, Polybius, Pallas, and Cal-
listus. In concert with her husband and alone,
Messallina used these men to rid herself of real or
perceived threats to herself, her son, and her hus-
band. To this end she also used the skillful politi-
cian Lucius Vitellius, a man from the equestrian
order and a close confidant of Claudius, and Pub-
lius Suillius Rufus, a senator with a reputation as a
ruthless prosecutor.
Danger to Claudius and Messallina came from
many sides, most especially from those who could
also claim the legitimate mantle of the Julio-Clau-
dian family. Julia Livilla was the sister of the
murdered Caligula, a child of the elder Agrippina.
Like Messallina, she could claim descent from
Octavia. She had been exiled by her brother Calig-
ula for adultery. Julia Livilla's husband Marcus
Vinicius had offered himself as a possible candi-
date to succeed Caligula after the latter 's murder.
One of his claims was the lineage of his wife.
Although Claudius allowed her to return to Rome
in 41 c.e., Julia Livilla was accused of adultery and
again exiled. This time, she was also killed. Her
alleged lover, Lucius Annaeus Seneca, a well-known
orator and writer, was also exiled.
Gaius Appius Junius Silanus, consul in 28 c.e.,
was the descendant of several august republican
houses, a popular leader of soldiers, and a favorite
with the Senate. He was governor of Hispania Tar-
raconensis when Claudius recalled him to Rome in
221
Messallina, Valeria
41. Removed from immediate access to an army
and the rights of imperium, he appeared less of a
direct threat. Claudius honored him and arranged
that he and Domitia Lepida marry. Domitia, Mes-
sallina's mother, was no less a contender for power
than her daughter. Widowed, her marriage to Sila-
nus was mutually advantageous. He gained a direct
connection to the imperial family, and she, a hus-
band of high repute.
By the following year, the effort to integrate Sila-
nus into the imperial family and regime had failed.
Charged with plotting to kill the emperor, he was
executed without trial on Claudius's orders. The
tale of his condemnation reads like a French farce
and reflects poorly on Claudius, Narcissus, and
Messallina. Supposedly, Narcissus broke into
Claudius's bedroom before daybreak to inform the
emperor that he had had a dream in which Silanus
had attacked Claudius. Messallina appeared imme-
diately and told Claudius that she had had a similar
dream. The two of them had previously arranged
for Silanus to come to the emperor's bedchamber.
When he arrived, Claudius thought he was forcing
his way into his room to assassinate him and ordered
him executed. Whatever the reasons — Messallina
may well have suspected Silanus's loyalty — by sid-
ing with the freedman she violated the code of kin
and class, angering her mother. Like her daughter,
Domitia Lepida was beautiful, arrogant, wealthy,
and accustomed to power. She was also more politi-
cally astute than Messallina. Her mother was an
ally Messallina could ill afford to lose, both for her
political connections and for the advice she might
have given over the years that followed.
The death of Silanus sparked an abortive revo-
lution by the Senate in 42. Since the death of
Tiberius, tension between the emperor and the
Senate had heightened. The senators were led in
Rome by Lucius Annius Vinicianus, who had been
involved in a plot against Caligula, and Lucius
Arruntius Camillus Scribonianus, consul in 32
and now the governor of Dalmatia with an army
under his command. Arruntius called on Claudius
to resign. The soldiers, however, did not back him,
and the revolt ended four days later. The leaders
committed suicide. Messallina, Claudius, and his
loyal freedmen had others executed. The sources
claim that the victors were merciless and included
men and women among the condemned. The
numbers of condemned, however, suggest no more
bloody an end than was traditional, and in fact less
extreme than some earlier proscriptions.
For the already suspicious Claudius and Messal-
lina, the revolt strengthened their focus on possible
plots. They found evidence of intrigue everywhere.
In 43 Suillius Rufus accused Julia (8), the wife of
Rubelius Blandus and the daughter of Livia Julia
Claudia Livilla and Tiberius's son Drusus Julius
Caesar, of immoral conduct. She was found guilty
and killed. The climate of suspicion increased the
imperial reliance on freedmen, further infuriated
the elite, and fed popular gossip with tales of impe-
rial excess, especially about Messallina.
As in all of Roman history, the gossip about
women focused on sexual promiscuity, and Mes-
sallina was a perfect subject. Beautiful, young, and
seductive, she had no hesitation in using her
charms for her own interests. It was not hard for
whispers to suggest that she had had sex with 25
men in 24 hours and that she had used false names
to entertain men in brothels. The tales about Mes-
sallina's sexual misconduct steadily expanded in
number and outrageousness. There were accounts
of her forcing innocent wives and daughters into
sex games in the imperial household while being
watched by their loving and distraught husbands
and brothers.
Nor was Claudius exempt from sexual attacks.
Messallina was accused of supplying him with
women and of assuring her own safety from his
anger by exciting his appetites. The link between
sex and blood, never far separated in Roman pruri-
ent literature, placed a long list of killings at the
door of Messallina, with and without the aid of
Claudius and the imperial freedmen. Messallina
was said to have had the prefect of the Praetorian
Guard, Catonius Justus, killed before he could
reveal her sexual misconduct to Claudius. In 46 c.
e., when Marcus Vinicius, the husband of Agrippi-
na's daughter Julia Livilla, died and was given a
state funeral, Messallina was said to have poisoned
him because he refused to succumb to her charms
222
Messallina, Valeria
and might have sought vengeance for the earlier
death of his wife.
Later in 46 or early 47, the death of Gnaeus
Pompeius Magnus, bearer of a great republican
name, had serious political overtones. He was the
husband of Antonia (4), the daughter of Claudius
and his divorced second wife Aelia Paetina. Mes-
sallina was said to have wanted him killed to pre-
vent any possible future son who would present an
alternative in succession to her son Britannicus.
The sources attributed his death, however, to
Claudius, not Messallina, and add that Claudius
also killed some 35 senators and more than 300
equestrians. Among these were Pompeius's parents,
Marcus Lucinius Crassus Frugi and Scribonia.
Their two younger sons were exiled. After the
bloodbath, Antonia was married to an unthreaten-
ing husband, Faustus Cornelius Sulla Felix, the half
brother of Messallina.
Messallina was said to have arranged the death
of Claudius's freedman Polybius for his opposition
to further purges by Messallina, particularly that of
Decimus Valerius Asiaticus. Polybius s death in 46
marked the first break in solidarity between Mes-
sallina and the powerful freedmen clique. Without
the support of the senators, and handicapped by
her image of sexual promiscuity, sowing uncer-
tainty among the freedmen would prove a fatal
error for Messallina, but not before the successful
prosecution of Decimus Valerius Asiaticus.
In 47 Asiaticus was accused of adultery with
Poppaea Sabina (i) and of bribery of the troops.
Asiaticus, consul in 35 and 46 c.e., was a native of
Vienne, a city on the Rhone in Gaul. He was
immensely wealthy and proud and lived in great
splendor. He owned the famous gardens of Lucul-
lus, which had belonged to Lucius Licinius Lucul-
lus in the republican era. The package of accusations
against him, attributed to Messallina, mixed the
trivial and banal with the threat of revolt. Messal-
lina was said to have wanted Asiaticuss gardens.
She implicated Poppaea, an extremely beautiful,
wealthy, and independent-minded woman whom
she believed to be his lover and knew to be a rival
for the attention of Mnester, a well-known actor of
the day. Messallina used Publius Suillius Rufus to
lodge the charge of adultery while her son's tutor,
Sosibius, told Claudius that Asiaticus was about to
travel to Germany where he planned to foment
trouble among the troops.
In a tale reminiscent of the earlier condemna-
tion of Silanus, on orders of Claudius, Asiaticus
was brought to the palace in chains from the city
of Baiae, a fashionable resort on an inlet of the Bay
of Naples. At an informal hearing in the emperor's
bedchamber with Messallina present, Suillius pre-
sented the charges that Asiaticus had corrupted the
military and committed adultery with Poppaea.
The sources record that Asiaticuss defense moved
the listeners to tears. Nonetheless, Messallina
instructed Lucius Vitellius, consul in 34, 43, and
47, that Asiaticus was to be indicted. When
Claudius asked Vitellius whether Asiaticus should
be acquitted, Vitellius, after praising the latter's
past service, proposed suicide. Asiaticus commit-
ted suicide, and Messallina forced Poppaea Sabina
to kill herself rather than face imprisonment.
Asiaticus had been among the key instigators in
the destruction of Caligula, and he had put his
name forward as a possible replacement. His enor-
mous wealth and influence in Gaul could well have
been used to influence and aid forces opposed to
Claudius. Desire for the gardens of Lucullus or
jealousy over Mnester, even if true, could in this
case have covered the ongoing fear of conspiracy
that marked Claudius's and Messallina's reign.
However, the death of an exconsul without a trial
aroused further resentment among senators and
others opposed to Messallina and Claudius. Con-
versely, it further pushed Messallina's and Claudius'
dependence on the imperial freedmen.
In 48 Messallina fatally mistook the degree of
support she had among the clique of freedmen.
She fell in love with Gaius Silius, a senator and one
of the most handsome men in Rome. Silius was
already married to Junia Silana. Messallina per-
suaded him to divorce her. She appeared every-
where in public with Silius, openly showed her
infatuation, and showered him with gifts from the
imperial household. It was a dangerous situation,
in part because Claudius was rapidly aging, and
once more talk of succession was in the air.
223
Milonia Caesonia
Silius personified the kind of senator that
Claudius and the imperial freedmen had most often
feared and killed. Possibly, he may have already
begun to array the forces in the Senate that needed
only support from Messallina to change the advis-
ers around the emperor and the tone of his reign.
The powerful freedmen probably sensed the poten-
tial of Silius and Messallinas partnership. For Mes-
salinas part, in the face of an increasingly debilitated
Claudius, whose health and susceptibility to youth-
ful female charms were an apparent danger, there
was more to be said for an alliance with Silius, who
was her contemporary, than with Claudius and the
freedmen, especially after Silius promised to adopt
her son Britannicus. Ardor overbalanced caution.
With Claudius in Ostia, she and Silius sealed their
bargain and acted out a marriage ceremony, with-
out any attempt at concealment.
Her allies among the freedmen deserted her.
Narcissus persuaded Callistus and Pallas that action
had to be taken to destroy Messallina. Silius, con-
sul designate in 48, was young, ambitious, well
connected, and a danger to all of them. He would
use his influence with Messallina to undermine
their positions under Claudius, and if something
happened to the emperor, their lives would be in
danger. Narcissus took the lead. His position was
the most precarious. Lucius Vitellius took a more
ambivalent position so that he would emerge
unscathed no matter what happened.
The scenario was analogous to one that had been
played before. Narcissus had Calpurnia (2) and
Cleopatra (4), lovers of Claudius, tell the emperor
about the marriage. Narcissus then told him that all
of Rome was aware of the wedding and urged
Claudius to act before he was deposed by Silius.
Claudius gave orders for the couples apprehension.
Narcissus took Claudius to Siliuss house to see the
valuables Messallina had given him. Fearing that
Claudius would still forgive Messallina if she con-
fronted him, Narcissus kept Messallina and their
children away from Claudius. He turned aside the
Vestal Virgin Vibidia, who demanded that Messal-
lina be allowed to defend herself.
On word of what happened, Silius went to the
Forum, and Messallina retired to the garden that
once had belonged to Asiaticus. Silius offered no
defense and was executed along with a number of
senators and knights. Domitia Lepida hurried to her
daughter's side and told her the only honorable way
out was to kill herself. Messallina still felt that she
could persuade Claudius to forgive her if she could
only see him alone. Narcissus had made it impossi-
ble. Messallina tried to stab herself but failed, and
she was killed by one of the men sent by Narcissus.
Her body was turned over to her mother.
The ultimate irony was that Claudius replaced
his wife Messallina with the younger Agrippina, a
more ruthless and devious woman than Messallina
and surely as intelligent. Agrippina succeeded where
Messallina has failed and skillfully maneuvered the
elevation of her son Nero to become emperor, per-
haps poisoning Claudius to make it possible.
Sources
Dio Cassius. Roman History 60.8 .4-5, 12.5, 14.1-4, 18.1-
4;61.30.8,31.1-5.
Juvenal. Satires 6. 1 1 5-32; 10.329-45.
Suetonius. The Lives of the Caesars: Claudius 26.2; 27.1;
29.3; 36; 37.2; 39.1.
Tacitus. Annates 11.1-5; 12.26-38.
Balsdon, J. P. V. D. Roman Women. New York: John Day
Comp., 1963, pp. 97-107.
Bauman, Richard A. Women and Politics in Ancient Rome.
London: Routledge, 1994, index.
Grimal, Pierre. Love in Ancient Rome. Trans, by Arthur Train,
Jr. New York: Crown Publishers, 1967, pp. 277-288.
Levick, Barbara. Claudius: The Corruption of Power. New
Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 1993, index.
Oxford Classical Dictionary, ed. by Simon Hornblower and
Antony Spawforth. 3d. ed. New York: Oxford Univer-
sity Press, 1996, pp. 1,576-1,577.
Pauly, A., G. Wissowa, and W. Kroll. Real-Encyclopadie
D. Classischen Altertumswissenschaft 1893— (Germany:
multiple publishers) 403.
Syme, Ronald. The Augustan Aristocracy. Oxford: Claren-
don Press, 1986, index.
[b] Milonia Caesonia
(c. 5-41 c.e.) Roman: Rome
political player
Milonia Caesonia, born about 5 c.e., joined with
her husband, the emperor Gaius Caligula, in the
imaginative and extravagant productions that char-
224
Monica
acterized the emperors last years. Condemned in
the sources as promiscuous, she was murdered at
the same time as the emperor.
Milonia was the youngest child of Vistilia, a
woman from Umbria, who was notable for having
married six men and having borne children with
all of them. By the time Milonia married Caligula,
she already had three children from a previous
marriage. Neither young nor beautiful, she was
Caligula's fourth wife. They married about the
time she gave birth to a daughter, Julia Drusilla
(2). Caligula loved her and was more faithful to
her than to any other woman with whom he
consorted.
Milonia, dressed in helmet, cloak, and shield,
was reputed to have accompanied her husband to
review the troops and was said to have sometimes
paraded nude among friends. She probably
became very wealthy. Caligula appointed her,
along with other wealthy individuals, to priest-
hoods and collected 10 million sesterces from
each of them for the honor. On January 24, 41,
Caligula, Milonia Caesonia, and their daughter
were murdered.
Sources
Dio Cassius. Roman History 59.23.7-8; 28.5-7.
Pliny the Elder. Naturalis Historia 7.39.
Suetonius. The Lives of the Caesars: Gaius Caligula 25.3-4;
59.
Syme, Ronald. "Domitius Corbulo." Journal of Roman
Studies 60 (1970): p. 31.
Minervina
(third-fourth century c.e.)
lover of Constantine
Roman: Asia
Minervina was the lover of the future emperor
Constantine. Their relationship ended when Con-
stantine married Flavia Maxima Fausta in 307 c.e.
Minervina had a son, Crispus, who grew up in the
palace. In a scandal whose details are obscure,
Constantine had the 20-year-old Crispus poisoned
and his own wife, Fausta, killed in 326.
Sources
Balsdon, J. P. V. D. Roman Women. New York: John Day
Comp., 1963, p. 167.
Minucia
(?-337 b.c.e.)
priestess
Roman: Rome
Minucia came from a plebeian family that had
once been patrician. She was the first plebeian Ves-
tal Virgin, one of the guardians of the sacred flame
of Rome in the temple of Vesta in the Forum. In
337 b.c.e. she was convicted of adultery on the tes-
timony of
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